Divided Plans
by N.J Jordbrukaren
Summary: When Liara's fears get the better of her she finds a way of getting a piece of what she always wanted: Shepard. Shepard/Samantha Traynor Shepard/Liara T'soni.
1. Chapter One: Last Request

Hey guys, girls… And others. This was originally a fill for a prompt I saw, but I think I might make it more than that. That is up to you fine people, though.

Everything is Bioware's crap except for my Shepard's name; that belongs to yours truly. Anyway, on with the show!

Poalo Nutini - Last Request.

* * *

**Cha****p****ter One: Last Re****q****uest:**

A loud explosion rocked the fragile concrete structure they had temporarily housed themselves in. Bits of dust and debris falling to the ground with various sounds, each one louder than the last. _We have to move out soon, this building won't last much longer and if we remain here we will all be crushed_Liara thought as she continued to sort the medi-gel packs before her, her mind not really focused on the job at hand. She could not believe this; near enough four years of non-stop work had led up to this very moment… Well, non-stop for Shepard anyway. Liara's thoughts drifted to the Human, her hands unconsciously halting their activities.

_Shepard._

For most of those four years Liara had been totally head over heels for the Commander. She had meant to tell Shepard, but every time she came close to doing so something else came along; first it was Ilos, then came Shepard's death, after that there was Cerberus and the Shadow Broker, and just when Liara thought it was safe to finally speak up Samantha Traynor hopped in her way, snatching Shepard up for herself.

Liara audibly growled at the mere thought of it. _How dare she? How dare that goddess forsaken woman claim Shepard for herself? _Liara sighed, raking in her emotions before they got the better of her. Of course there had been times when she had thought things could work with Shepard. The time when the Normandy had been locked down before Ilos; when she had found Shepard sulking in the mess hall… They had almost kissed that day. _So close. _

Then there was the aftermath of the fight with the Shadow Broker. The emotions had proven too much for Liara which caused her to break down in front of the Commander. Liara hated feeling so vulnerable, but when Shepard wrapped her strong arms around Liara's body… Liara shivered at the memory. _Goddess, why couldn't I have just made her mine back __**then**__?_

Liara stopped thinking when the battle damaged door on the opposite side of the room slid open, revealing the object of her unrequited affections. "Hey, Liara. How are things going up here?" Shepard came to stand a few inches away from Liara, much to the Asari's dismay. There was nothing Liara wanted to do more right now then to simply grab the Human by the head with both hands and drag her down for a kiss. Just knowing that that was not possible, however, was killing Liara inside.

"Everything seems to be in order, Commander Shepard."

Liara put her nerves on hold when she turned to see Shepard smiling a little, that cocky grin making her heart, and other places around her body, ache. "Liara; I think we are well past formality, don't you?" The tall Human turned to face Liara, her hands coming up to take a hold of Liara's. The Asari's heart clenched painfully in her chest. It was too much to wish for… That Shepard would just tell her that she felt the same way Liara did, but Liara could hope, right? "We are friends,"

_There it is, the "friends" card. _

"We aren't exactly on the battlefield right now… So call me Dexter, or Dex, okay?" Shepard's voice was so soft, so caring and gentle. If only Liara was the only one who ever got to hear that side of her. Liara nodded her consent, her pale blue eyes remaining focused upon their clasped hands.

"Yes, thank you, Dexter." That name seemed to suit Shepard down to the ground. Liara pondered who had given her the name. She knew that Dex was an orphan… A child that had been abandoned in one of the larger Earthen Cities. New York, was it? Liara didn't know why she was wondering whether she was right or not. She _knew_ that the place was called New York, she had read up on Dexter's file, after all. But that name: 'Dexter' it was a sophisticated, strong name that spoke multitudes about Shepard's character. Liara paused her thoughts, her pale blue eyes looking up to meet Dexter's dark brown almost black ones.

"This is it, isn't it, Dexter?" Liara asked quietly, her voice on the verge of breaking. Dex looked away from Liara, her dark eyes focusing on the far wall.

"Yeah… I guess it is." Liara gently pressed her hand to Shepard's cheek, forcing the other woman to look her in the eyes. "And to think; five years ago neither of us would have imagined _anything _like this."

Shepard's eyes searched Liara's face for something… Anything. Dexter would admit to herself that there used to be a time in their relationship when she thought that they could be more than just friends. She cared about Liara a lot during their time on the Normandy SR1, maybe a little more than a Commanding Officer should have cared about someone under their command, but that didn't matter now. Shepard did not act upon those feelings back then… Perhaps that was for the best?

"Shepard."

"Liara."

They both smiled bashfully at one another when they realised they had spoken in sync. "Lady's first." Dexter insisted. She knew at any other time Liara would likely give her the 'Asari are mono-gendered' speech, but right now they both had a lot to say.

_So chivalrous even in times like these. _Liara smiled as she moved her hand away from Shepard's cheek, resting the same hand against Dexter's armoured shoulder instead. "I would like to offer you a gift, Dexter, if you have time for it."

_Gift? Oh, crap… _Shepard's mind raced as the went through a few possibilities of what this "gift" might be, all of which ended with her pinning Liara against the wall, her fingers prying the Doctors breastplate away from her hungry blue skin… Liara's breasts… Liara's moans of pleasure. Parted lips, soft purple tongue... _Stop it! _

"Dexter?"

Shepard shook her head to clear whatever thoughts _I think __**fantasy**__ is a more apt word, don't you? _If Shepard wasn't in public she may have slammed her head into the nearest wall. Why was her brain always so active when it came to thoughts of Liara? "What kind of gift, Liara?" Dexter berated herself for sounding unenthusiastic. _Nothing can live up to your expectations now, can it? _Shepard gritted her teeth as she thought back to the image of her pressing Liara up against the wall. _Honestly? No. Nothing can live up to that._

If Liara picked up on Dexter's tone of voice she didn't show it. "Do you remember when I first joined my mind to yours after Therum?" Shepard nodded –this time with enthusiasm- Liara took a step closer to Shepard, the hand of the Commanders shoulder moving to slide down her arm until they were hand in hand. "Some Asari use melds to share memories with their close friends… Or Bondmates." When Liara looked into Shepard's eyes Dexter's mouth ran completely dry. "I would like to share this gift with you, Dexter."

"Show me."

Liara smiled warmly as she took a few steps closer to her Commander, her hand coming back up to cup Shepard's cheek, the other resting at the back of the taller woman's neck, gently pulling her down so their foreheads were touching. "Close your eyes, Dexter," A soft blue thumb gently traced one of Shepard's sharp cheekbones. "Relax."

Everything went purple briefly before fading to black. The only constant was the sensation of Liara touching her cheek, neck and forehead. When Shepard felt it was time she opened her eyes, her heart calming in her chest when she saw Liara standing right in front of her, pale blue eyes watching her warmly.

_Come on, Liara, this is your only chance. _When Shepard pulled away from her and looked forward to see the fond (and not so fond) memories slowly pass her by, Liara closed her eyes, her mind carefully pressing the meld deeper. The sensation she received in return was awe inspiring. All she could feel was Shepard, all she could see was Shepard, it was… amazing. Her body took charge now and started the process of mapping Shepard's most desirable traits. A part of Liara felt incredibly guilty about taking this choice away from the woman she adored… The woman she loved, but she wouldn't know how to deal with losing Shepard again. At least this way she would always have a piece of Dexter with her, no matter what happened in the future.

A powerful sensation took Liara as Shepard's traits imprinted themselves within her. The feeling was unimaginable, and Shepard could feel it a little bit too. Dexter didn't know what was going on precisely, but part of her knew this was more than a simple memory meld.

When the pair eventually separated Liara fell forward into Shepard's waiting arms. Her knees felt weak, but her body felt energized. _Did I..? _Liara secretly placed one of her hands against her armoured abdomen. _I __**did**__. _Liara looked up to Shepard, her eyes slightly watery from what Shepard had just unknowingly done for her.

"That was…"

"I know." Shepard said calmly, that perfect lopsided grin appearing upon her face. "It was different, wasn't it?"

"Dexter…" Liara was about to tell the woman about what she had just done, perhaps out of guilt, or perhaps she just wanted to see Shepard's reaction. Either way; Liara did not get the chance as she was cut off by the sound of Kaidan's distant hollering.

"I'd best go, anyway. I don't want the party to start without me. Be ready." Before Shepard went to leave; she reached down, giving the surprised Asari a tight hug. "Stay safe. I don't want to have to be the one to tell Feron if you get hurt. I know how much he cares about you." Without another word Dexter left the room, leaving Liara alone with nothing to keep her company but her thoughts… Her guilty, guilty thoughts.

_Stupid Feron. _Shepard raged as she exited the room. _No; stupid __**you**__! If you want her go for her. _Dex shook her head a tired grin coming to her lips. _And what about Sam, huh? She means a lot to me as well… I can't just leave her. I just couldn't._

Out of the blue; another part of Shepard's mind joined the argument, only this one acted coolly and spoke nothing but the truth. _Dexter; stop telling yourself that Feron would be devastated if something happened to Liara; it is __**you **__who would be devastated, just admit it._

"I love Liara…" Dex muttered quietly as she entered the 'war room'. _I love her… I love her so much it actually hurts._

* * *

Bullets flew in every direction as Liara manoeuvred her way around the slim battlefield. She paused and ducked for cover behind a nearby lamppost as one of the Banshees up ahead fired off a warp in her direction. _Please don't come for me. _Liara quickly switched the clip in her SMG, her mind trying to focus on anything other than the thought of the Banshee grabbing her around the neck much like Rila had been back at the Monastery on Lesuss.

Liara's eyes went wide went she heard the tell-tale screech of a Banshee directly behind her. Before she could act however, Shepard had already leapt to her defence. Liara watched wide eyed as Shepard ran towards her, using the half concrete wall she was hiding behind to vault herself to meet the Banshees height. Shepard's fist flashed with the familiar dark purple tone that Liara had come to associate with the Commanders biotics. As Shepard's biotically enhanced hand latched onto the Banshees throat her omni-blade sprang to life, easily sliding right between the Banshees dead, black eyes, effectively stopping the beast in its tracks.

"Run, Liara!" Shepard shouted as she ripped her omni blade from the dead creature's face, white ooze dripping from the weapons surface as she did so. Liara could hear the rasp in Shepard's voice, that being said; it was still a forceful sound. Liara didn't need any further prompting. She quickly got to her feet, running in the direction of the artillery weapons.

"No! They're still not calibrated!"

Shepard ran over to where Liara stood, her hand unconsciously touching the small of the Asari's back. "Where's Garrus when you need him, hmm?" Liara smiled a little at Shepard's ill times humour. _Her resilience is one of the many things you love about her remember? _Liara shook her head to clear those thoughts. Now was not the time for thoughts of adoration. Her gloved digits halted their frenzied movements upon the AAC guns control panel. _It isn't the right time for a baby either, but you threw that rule straight out the window. _One of Liara's hands came away from the control panel to rest upon her lower abdomen. _You're pregnant and you're actively fighting in a war; what does that say? _Liara snarled a little as she forced herself to focus upon the panel before her. _I'd hardly call myself pregnant… _

_You have a baby __**growing**__ inside you. It may not be a baby just yet, but it's in the making. T'soni, you __**are **__pregnant, and with the great Commander Shepard's baby no less._

"Shut up." The Asari growled, not realising that she had spoken aloud.

Shepard moved the hand she had on the small of Liara's back up a bit, her thumb tracing soothing patterns around Liara's upper back. "I'm sorry. What's wrong, Liara?"

Liara shook her head again, the vague sensation of Shepard touching her acting as a balm to her frayed nerves. "No, I'm sorry." A moment passed between the two as Liara lost herself in Shepard's touch. "I… Uhm… The gun still won't calibrate."

"It looks like we are heading further in then, doesn't it?" Dexter lifted her other hand, the familiar dark purple glow surrounding her hand once more. "Let's move out!"

* * *

Liara awoke to the sound of rapid gunfire and constant screaming. Her head was pounding and her leg felt like it had cramped up, only the feeling wasn't fading away with time.

"Doctor T'soni, thank god you're okay!" Garrus announced, obviously relieved as he slid beside her on his knees. "Can you walk?"

Even though the pain in her leg was excruciating; Liara managed to get to her feet, that being said; she was relying heavily upon Garrus' assistance "Yes… I am pretty sure I can walk. Where is Shepard?" Liara's voice sounded more panicked than she had meant it to be, but right now she didn't care. Although she had prepared for the worst; she still wanted Shepard to survive this.

"She went up in the beam about an hour ago, no one has heard from her since… Or Anderson for that matter."

"I should be up there with her!" Liara struggled against Garrus' hold on her, her face contorting with rage when he refused to release her. "Let go of me!" When her biotics flared to life Garrus loosened his grip a little.

"Liara, the beam closed just after Anderson followed Shepard up there… And even if it was still open; it's too dangerous for you to use." Garrus' voice was quiet, to quiet. Liara looked at the Turian wide eyed, unsure about what to think of his statement.

"What… What do you mean 'it's too dangerous to use'?" When Garrus' head turned to follow a medic as he ran by him she pressed harder. "Garrus?" Again the Turian did not turn to her. Liara grabbed Garrus by the shoulder, shoving him to face her. "What. Do. You. Mean?"

"Well… We don't know what it does to the person who uses it and since neither Anderson nor Shepard have reported back one can only expect the worst."

"Don't you dare, Garrus! You're more optimistic than this!" Liara looked at Garrus harder, her eyes watery from tears that she refused to let fall. "And I know that you believe in Shepard a lot more than you let on, so do _not_ give me that, Garrus!" Liara sighed deeply, her hand coming up to cover her mouth as she tried to stifle a sob.

Garrus swallowed thickly as he watched Liara try to compose herself. _Damn it, Shepard, are you the only person in the Galaxy who can't see how much Liara loves you? _Sky blue eyes glanced down to the floor. Pausing when they noticed how much of the indigo coloured lifeblood was seeping through the leg of Liara's armour. "Liara… You're hurt!"

Liara sniffled, grimacing when she put a bit more pressure upon her wounded leg. "I am fine-"

Garrus made short work of scooping Liara up. "That might work when Shepard says it, but it won't work when you do. I'm finding a medic for that leg of yours."

Liara went to protest, but remembered the gift she had given Shepard earlier. _Actually, technically speaking __**you**__ took the gift from __**Shepard**__. _Either way, she didn't want anything to happen to it. "Okay…"

Garrus cocked one of his brow plates in question. "Giving up so easily, T'soni? I never thought I'd see the day."

Despite all that was going on; Liara gave Garrus a brief smile, it didn't quite reach her eyes, but it was there. "Shepard needs everyone on the top of their game… Even if she isn't here to see it." _Nice save, Liara! _She looked away from Garrus, her 'eyebrows' knitting somewhat. _It wasn't a "save" at all. I was merely stating a fact._

Liara stopped thinking when she felt Garrus lower her down onto a nearby crate, careful hands already starting to remove the armour that covered her wounded calf. "Doctor Chakwas?"

"Liara, I am glad to see that you and Garrus are… Relatively okay."

"You too, Doc." Garrus said as he stood over them assault rifle in hand just in case.

Liara felt her stomach turn slightly as she saw Chakwas wince when she released her leg from its armoured casing. "This is quite the wound you have here, Liara. How did it happen?" When Liara hesitantly shook her head, Garrus crouched down beside them. Liara could see the fiery determination in his eyes, however. She would hate to be the thing that tried to come between them and Garrus.

"Harbinger used his… Uhm… death ray on a nearby Mako. When the thing exploded a piece of shrapnel flew Dr T'soni's way and caught her in the calf. I was too late to stop it, I'm so sorry, Liara." Garrus lowered his head in shame. Liara knew how Turian's prided themselves upon saving others: glory in death on the battlefield and all that, but this was Garrus… He just wanted to protect one of his friends in one of the only ways he knew how to and, in his eyes, he had failed.

"It isn't your fault, Garrus. And, anyway; without you I wouldn't be here right now. I think that counts as you saving me, does it not?" Garrus looked up into Liara's eyes searchingly. Without saying another word he nodded once and got to his feet, returning to his guard. This simple gesture told Liara how much her words had lifted his spirit.

"This wound is quite severe, Liara, I think we ought to get you back into the infirmary building so I can inspect it properly."

"No! We need to wait for Shepard!"

Chakwas got to her feet, her pale green eyes watching as the Asari barely kept her outrage contained. "Liara, Shepard will come back once she has done her job…" Chakwas continued to watch Liara as she removed her latex gloves. "She has a lot to come back to." Unfortunately, at that very moment in time, Liara looked up to Chakwas. The Human Doctor had suddenly averted her gaze to a nearby comm link that one of the engineers had just connected to aboard the Normandy… More specifically; to Specialist Traynor. Liara worried her lower lip with her teeth when she looked at Traynor's holo-image. _She is beautiful in her own little way… She and Shepard are lucky to have found one another. _A huge part of Liara would not accept that, however. No, it just argued back! _Give over T'soni! You know as well as I do that Traynor is lucky to have Shepard. You feel that in your gut. Jealousy, right? Feeling jealous much Liara? _Her mind flicked back to a time when Liara had arrived on the CIC deck only to see Shepard and Traynor talking away like… Like Bondmates would. She saw Shepard gently touch Traynor's hand as she walked off to see Joker. It killed her a little inside every time she saw the two interact; knowing that it brought them a bit closer… And took Dexter further away from her.

"Okay…" It was a barely audible whisper, but it was just loud enough for Chakwas to hear. The Human called over the medics to assist Liara back to the Normandy.

* * *

"Liara, there has been extensive damage to your leg and there may still be shrapnel imbedded, we're going to have to perform surgery, okay?" Liara did not properly hear what Chakwas was saying. To her it was all babble. _Shepard hasn't come back yet. _That same thought was running around her mind like a piece of ticker tape.

"Liara?"

"Do whatever you want to, Doctor…" Liara's voice was timid and broken, her now dull eyes focused upon the floor by her feet.

Chakwas didn't like the way that Liara spoke… Like she'd already given up hope. Chakwas saw the look behind Liara's eyes. _She's upset. _Chakwas wrote a mental note to speak with Liara about this later. She couldn't have one of her favourite people getting upset now, could she? "Okay, Liara. I'll get the medics to prep you for surgery."

* * *

_Liara exited the bathroom her skin fresh from having just stepped out of the shower. She delicately dabbed at her skin as she dried off, her touches becoming even softer as she went around her swollen stomach. A warm, loving smile graced her lips as she rested a gentle hand against the dramatic swell. As she tenderly rubbed the lower part of her abdomen with her thumb an arm wrapped around her from behind, a hand coming to rest upon hers as she continued to rub that spot. Liara smiled, knowing exactly who it was._

"_Say what you like, Liara, but I think you look more and more beautiful with each passing day." Shepard punctuated her statement by pressing a soft kiss to one of the extremely sensitive folds upon the back of Liara's neck, causing the Asari to fall further back into Shepard's embrace._

"_Shepard…" Liara chided herself for sounding so… weak, so needy. But in this stage of her pregnancy she could not help it. Even the smallest touch from Shepard was enough to turn her into a moaning, squirming mess. _

"_I'm taking advantage," She felt Shepard chuckle behind her, the vibrations sending shivers up her back. "I know. But I can't just stand there and let your beauty go unacknowledged; now can I?" Liara went to reply, but her voice trailed off into a moan when Shepard ran her tongue in between two of the soft folds upon her neck. _

"_Uhm… Mmm." Liara turned in Shepard's strong embrace, nothing between them but Dexter's boxer shorts and Liara's tummy._

"_Thought you could get away from me, hmm?" Liara's knees felt weak as she listened to Shepard's possessive, dark tone, her pale blue eyes looking into Shepard's own midnight black ones. _

"_Perhaps." Liara cocked an eyebrow as she examined Shepard's body. Dexter Shepard was the opposite of feminine in bodily appearance: small breasts, lanky form, no hips and visible muscles. Liara liked that, though, it gave the two of them more of a contrast. Even with her slender form; Shepard's strength was undeniable. She felt like swooning when she saw Shepard's prominent abdominal muscles twitch in anticipation. __**She wants to ravish you as much as you want to be ravished**_._Shepard took both of Liara's hands in her own and began walking backwards, pulling Liara with her. _

"_Not going to happen, gorgeous."_

"_Oh, really?"_

_Shepard grinned… That cocky grin… Liara bit her lower lip. __**Why does this woman have to be so attractive? **__Shepard guided Liara onto the bed, careful not to hurt her or their child in any way. "I want to make you feel good, Liara." Shepard growled as she laid Liara down, her hands quickly moving to gently pry Liara's legs apart so that she could settle between them. She then began kissing her way up the side of Liara's neck, her mouth coming to rest inches away from Liara's "ear"._

"_That's if you want me to, of course?" Shepard's voice was so gentle in Liara's ear. The sound made Liara's back arch, her mouth falling open slightly as she softly moaned. Dexter smiled to herself when Liara looped her arms over her shoulders, the Asari's nails digging in slightly for grip._

"_Shepard…"_

"_Shh." Shepard pressed a butterfly soft kiss to Liara's lips, silencing the Asari. "Save your energy." Liara was only becoming more aroused by how quietly Shepard was talking to her. Even now she was not used to this side of Shepard. Dexter was usually on the battlefield, bellowing orders from the top of her lungs, but now… Liara whimpered. She found Shepard's 'bedroom' voice so sexy._

_Liara's eyes fluttered to a close when Shepard began kissing her way down Liara's body, taking extra care of her sensitive breasts as she went. When Dexter was above Liara's swollen stomach she rubbed it with her hand, her lips kissing her way down the delicately curved blue flesh. "Liara… You are so beautiful. Mere words can't express that enough to you." The Asari heard what her lover was saying, but the sweet sensations she was feeling were taking over. Her head thrashed from side to side as Shepard kissed her inner thighs, before spreading them further apart. "So… so beautiful." The sensation of Shepard's hot breath against her core was too much; her slender blue digits reached out and crushed a handful of bed sheet in between her palms._

"_Goddess, Shepard-"_

"_Dexter." The Spectre gently corrected._

"_Dexter, I need you to touch me… inside me."_

_Shepard took no further prompting. She wanted to give the mother of her child exactly what she needed right in this moment. She would do anything to please the woman she loved, the woman she wanted to spend the rest of her days with._

"_Liara…"_

"_**Liara…"**_

"Liara? Is she okay, then?" Garrus ask impatiently. Right now T'soni was one of the only crewmembers that he _knew _were safe and he wanted to make sure that Liara stayed that way. Doctor Chakwas nodded, her thoughts more focused upon reading something off of her data pad than anything else. "Thank the Spirits. Shepard would kill me if anything happened to her best biotic… Best _**not**_ including herself, anyway."

Liara sighed and sank further into the hospital bed after hearing Garrus' voice. _Damn it, that felt so real!_ Her brain was still foggy from the surgery, but that dream… It had felt like reality. Liara sighed again and scrunched her fists a few times as if trying to suppress the anger that had over taken her entire body.

Chakwas looked up to Garrus and chuckled with him. They both knew how cocky Shepard was about her biotics. She had good reason to be, however. As brilliant as Liara was Shepard could match her with her own skills. After the Prothean beacon incident her skills had only gotten better. Shepard was truly a force to be reckoned with, in every sense of the word.

"Liara is in very good health considering what you lot have just been through out there." The Human glanced up from her data pad and looked towards the curtained off area which Liara was behind. "Something is off with her stats, however, so I think I'm going to keep her here for a while." Garrus nodded. Whatever was up with Liara; Chakwas could fix it.

"Okay…"

Chakwas looked back up to the mopey Turian, a look of mirth hidden behind her eyes. "You'd best get back to it, I expect? Feel free to stay here, though. Don't think I'm kicking you out."

Garrus pulled his rifle out from off of his back, squaring it as if he was weighing it up. "Thanks for helping Liara out, Doc. I'd best go kick some Reaper ass whilst there is still some left."

Chakwas looked up from the chart she was studying, her gaze fixing squarely up the Turian stood in the centre of the busy infirmary. "Be careful, Garrus."

"Take care, Doctor." And with that Garrus turned and left the building, his angry sky blue eyes fixing upon the giant Reaper that was hauling itself around in the distance. _If only looks could kill._

* * *

The stale air clogged up in the back of her throat as she breathed, causing her to wheeze and choke and… _Wish I were dead. _Sticky blood coated digits gripped helplessly at the surrounding rubble. _No you don't. You may be in pain, but you aren't stupid. _Shepard grinned but that soon turned into a grimace as a fresh wave of pain caused her to release her hold on the rubble, her body falling back down to the ground beneath. A fit of coughs racked her body as she choked upon the dust her movements had shifted. _I saved the Galaxy; my job here is done as far as I am concerned. _Shepard argued back to her internal voice. _That's no reason to give up. What about Sam? _Shepard frowned as she thought on it more. _What about Liara?_

Shepard stopped thinking when there was a loud clatter from somewhere in the distance. Before she could react a sharp thin beam fell from above, stabbing her straight through the right side of her chest and only stopping when it hit the concrete beneath her.

_Shit… This isn't good._

* * *

The next chapter won't be as long, I promise you. I'm just getting into the swing of things. – N.J Jordbrukaren.


	2. Chapter Two: Savin' Me

**Divided Plans: **

N.J Jordbrukaren.

Firstly; thank you everyone for your kind reviews. Secondly; really sorry for not updating sooner. A friend had a surfing accident and I haven't had the opportunity to do much other than read and review other people's awesome stories. Updates will be regular from now on.

Oh, hey, and thirdly; Each chapter was partially inspired by a song. The title of the song is in the title of each chapter. I updated chapter one, so if you want to see then go ahead. Thanks, peeps!

Everything is Bioware's, I just take them out for cookies and milk every once and a while. Especially Marauder Shields… He is a regular cookie fiend.

Nickelback - Savin' Me.

* * *

**Cha****p****ter Two: Savin' Me.**

**Two Hours Earlier:**

Shepard ran. It was all she could do. With Liara and Garrus back in safety the only person she had to make sure reached that beam was her, and she was going to get there even if it killed her.

A blast from Harbinger sent a nearby Mako flying towards her. _No fucking way. _Shepard's instinct pulled her to the ground where her knees skidded in the mud. _If I get killed here I'm going to come back to haunt Wrex._ The momentum behind her pushed her closer towards the Mako, so much so that she could feel the heat of the flames that had engulfed it against her face.

Shepard slammed her eyes closed and grimaced as she braced for impact… An impact that never came. The Mako's tail end slammed upright into the floor directly in front of her, the force of its own momentum causing it to bounce back off the ground and skim over Shepard's head, crashing into a concrete wall somewhere behind her.

Without hesitation, Shepard hopped back onto her feet and continued to run the vast distance between her and the beam. She had not noticed before, but dozens of soldiers were being cut down all around her as they all attempted to reach the same destination. Luckily, so far, every blast had missed her, some not by more than a few metres, but for the most part she was doing well. That was until she got closer to the beam… And Harbinger.

"Shepa-!" Whoever shouted her name was cut off as the red beam tore straight through their path. It continued to cut diagonally across the muddy plain, tearing up the earth as it went by. The heat caught Shepard by surprise, but she did not have time to react. A short red blast knocked her off her feet, throwing her harshly into a nearby abandoned grizzly.

_Ah, crap. _The pressure in her head was too much; tendrils of darkness began to claw at her consciousness, dragging her under its hopeless tide.

_No fucking way… _

_**No **__fucking way… _

_**No fucking **__way… _

"No fucking way…"

Shepard was_ not _going down that easily. The Commander braced her hands upon the vehicle behind her, using the new leverage to push herself onto her feet.

_Pain._

She had it in droves. The arteries in her nose expelled their blood harshly, sending the red lifeblood shooting out of her nostrils. She knew she had broken something, as well… Or everything. Some bones were bent in directions they were never meant to, clicking and cracking in ways she didn't think possible. Still, she soldiered on towards the beam.

"Shepard…" A soldier gargled as she limped by him. Shepard was not squeamish by any standards, but there was something about seeing a man blown in half, entrails everywhere that made her want to gag right now. _That could have been you. _There it was. She wasn't fussy about the fact that he was lying there bleeding profusely from what was left of his abdomen. No. It was the fact that, if their places were reversed, that would have been her. And who would save the galaxy then. _You certainly wouldn't. You'd be legless… So to speak. _

She faltered as she took a miniscule step forward, her hand clutching at her side in pain. So focused upon getting to the beam was she that she failed to notice the trio of husks run out from behind a corrugated block of metal further ahead, only seeing them when they were mere metres away. _No, where'd I put my gun? What was that? _Something nudged her ankle.

"Shepard." It was the man who had been torn in half… It was Major Coats. "Take." He groaned, urging her on by prodding her in the ankle with the butt of his pistol again. "Win."

With a nod, she bent down, her face scrunching with pain as she clasped the weapon in her digits. "Husks. Shoot." Major Coats pointed out weakly before letting his head lifelessly fall into a muddy puddle.

Shepard took no further prompting. Aiming the weapon at the first of the three husks she blew a hole straight through its chest, causing it to tumble backwards into one of the other husks, effectively knocking it down. _That works. _The Commander smirked before blowing the third husks head clean off of its shoulders. Limping within an effective shooting distance, she did the same with the second husk as it squirmed around, trying to remove the first dead husk from atop itself.

_Now for the big one. _She looked up to see the bright blue beam standing proudly before her.

_Bang._

_More pain._

The Commander had failed to see the marauder dash out from the left, assault rifle in hand. Shepard needed to pull herself together. In her pain she was forgetting to take note of her surroundings, which had almost resulted in her death, twice over, in fact. The bullet wound on her shoulder stung and burned like hell, but she _had_ to take the enemy down. Five quick squeezes of the trigger and the marauder slumped to the floor, its gun uselessly thudding to the ground.

_Okay, here goes nothing. _Putting her pain to one side for the sake of galactic importance, Shepard clipped her pistol to what was left of her armour and ran towards it. _I hope there is a soft landing wherever I come out._

There wasn't. The beam expelled Shepard to the ground with force, knocking whatever air she had left in her lungs firmly back out. _Holy fuck, my ribs! _Again, Shepard felt the familiar grip of unconsciousness begin to tug at her very being, coaxing her into it.

_*Shepard?*_

_Fuck…_

_*Commander?*_

_Crap…_

_*Commander Shepard!*_

_Bosh'tet… _

"Anderson?" Shepard could not be sure whether it was just her imagination, or whether the Admiral was really shouting for her. _How did Anderson get up here? _"You up here too?"

There was a grunt on his side. "Yeah, followed you up. Didn't come out in the same place, though."

_Thanks Captain Obvious, or should I say Admiral Obvious? Never mind, now isn't the time. _"Do you know where we are?" Shepard sniffled, nearly gagging when the sickly taste of iron hit the back of her tongue.

"No," Anderson wheezed. Right now Shepard was more worried about him than she was about their location. That being said; if she wanted to find him she would have to hurry. "But there is something odd about this place. The walls, they… Keep shifting. This isn't like any part of the Citadel I have ever seen before." Shepard nodded in agreement as she limped past a lone Keeper.

"Same here. There's a Keeper around. It's taking the bodies apart, picking their armour off." Shepard winced as the Keeper tugged at the arm of a rotting corpse, the limb separating from the rest of the body quite easily.

_Ew. _

"Wait."

"Anderson? Talk to me."

The line went silent for a few agonizing minutes before his tired voice came back. "I found some kind of passage way. There is a light up ahead, some kind of panel."

Shepard chuckled to herself, stopping suddenly when the pain in her side announced itself once more. "Don't get too far ahead of me, will you." Her grin quickly faded when there was no answer from his end. "Anderson?" _Damn it! _Shepard made to run towards the end of the hallway, but when her ankle clicked painfully she abruptly stopped and continued limping.

_Goddamnit, for once why couldn't everything just go as planned? If the AA guns had worked a lot more people would be around._

Shepard stopped thinking when the door slid open. A blinding amount of light hit her eyes, causing her to hiss in pain. _And why won't things just stop hurting? If it isn't my ankle, it is my ribs, and if it isn't my ribs then it is my fucking nose! _Shepard stood above a small, downward sloping ramp. _What were the Reapers thinking when they built this thing? 'Hey, let's throw a couple of steep slopes in, that'll show 'em!' _Shepard snorted when she imagined one of the older Reapers fist shaking. _Come on, they didn't know that you were going to stroll up here fifty-thousand years later with the intent to wipe them all out. If they did they probably would have put more than just a few slopes in. They could have kidnapped Javik and put him on guard. Nobody would come up here then, that's for sure. _

A swishing sound drew Shepard's attention elsewhere. _These must have been the walls Anderson spoke about. _She picked up her pace… Well, as much as she could anyway. The light became brighter the higher she got up the ramp until became blinding. She covered her eyes with her forearm as she pressed on. _I'll be damned if I let a little light stop me from doing this._

The closer she got, the more clearer to silhouette before her became. "Anderson?" Shepard lowered her arm, the light having vanished behind something. There was something wrong. Anderson was tense… Almost puppet like.

"Shepard… I… Can't." Every muscle in his body flexed painfully as a figure stepped closer from behind Shepard.

Shepard sensed the other presence before she heard it. It felt like someone had a corkscrew and was slowly twisting it into her skull. "I underestimated you, Shepard." _The Illusive Man. _His smoky voice was one of the most recognisable parts of him. His face was too, but… Well, suffice to say it did not look like him anymore. "I warned you. Control is a means to survival. Control of the Reapers… And of _you_, if necessary."

He watched smugly as Shepard's face contorted in pain.

_Yes. Control is also a means to power. Power which I shall have by controlling the Reapers to lead humanity into a new era. Having Shepard back on my side will prove useful, as well. _

"They are controlling you!"

"I don't think so, Admiral." Shepard did not approve of anything this bastard did, but, to his credit, he had plenty of resolve… Or the Reapers did. She didn't know what The Illusive Man was to begin with, but whatever he was now was not the same.

"Controlling me is a lot more different than controlling a Reaper."

The Illusive Man folded his arm over his chest, the other resting atop that so his hand could scratch his chin. After a moment's contemplation, his cold blue cybernetic eyes aligned with hers. "Have a little faith." Those four words shook Shepard to her core. She would not show it, but they did. She had seen what Cerberus was capable of first hand, not to mention the stuff she had seen Henry Lawson doing for them. Shepard honestly did not doubt that The Illusive Man had his ways.

"When humanity discovered the mass relays we learned that there was more to the galaxy then we could have ever imagined." He glanced over to Anderson, his gaze accusatory. "There were some who thought that the relays should be destroyed. They were scared of what we would find. Terrified of what we'd let in." This time he turned to Shepard. "But look at what humanity has achieved! Since that last discovery, we've advanced more than the past ten-thousand years combined." He walked to stand between Anderson and Shepard, his fingertips pressing together in triangular formation. "And the Reapers will do the same for us again, a thousand fold. But…"

A dark fog painfully seeped in around the edges of Shepard's vision, twisting her mind to hear and see things that she did not want to. "…Only if we can harness their ability to control." Shepard felt her arm rise without her control, her pistol pointing threateningly at Anderson.

_No, you can't shoot him! Anderson has helped you… Helped us, so much over the years. Not even being under The Illusive Man's influence can justify you shooting him. Fight this! Fight him! _Shepard's own thoughts were telling her to stop. To drop the pistol, but she couldn't. The Illusive Man's hold was tight and unforgiving. His wishes and commands became her actions. She had become his weapon.

The Illusive Man placed his hand against her raised forearm, almost as if he was making sure that any shot she fired _was_ going to hit the Admiral.

"Bullshit!" Shepard felt her jaw clench at Anderson's protests. A large part of her just wanted the man to shut up so as not to anger the man controlling her. How would she live with herself knowing she killed the man who had been like a father to her? Who _had _been a father to her? "We destroy them, or they destroy us."

"And waste an opportunity? _Never_." The Illusive Man was resolute in his belief that they needed to control the Reapers. There was obviously no solid way to sway him. _So why won't you just shut up? _Shepard could not help but get angry. Anderson was literally signing his own death warrant.

"You are playing with something you don't understand. With power you shouldn't be able to use." She found it hard to talk, but she _needed _to save Anderson from himself.

The Illusive Man swung around, what was left of his eyebrows furrowing in frustration. _Why is she being so flippant? Why can't Shepard just accept her fate? _"I don't believe that. If we can control it, why shouldn't it be ours?"

Shepard snorted. "That's Cerberus' motto, isn't it?" When the man went to protest Shepard cut him off. "Miranda told me about the control chip." It was The Illusive Man's turn to snort now.

Taking a few steps closer, he locked eyes with Shepard. "If you recall; I was the one who stopped her from installing it."

Shepard glared back at him, everything in her body yelling to end him now. The sensation only served to aggravate her when she remembered that she couldn't actually move. "It doesn't matter. The option to control me should _not_ have been on the table to begin with. Some part of you must have at least considered it."

The Illusive Man crossed his arms over his chest again. "A large part of me entertained the idea, I must admit. But I quickly came to the conclusion that controlling you that way would have been too obvious. We promised Doctor T'soni that we would restore you as you were. If anyone would have been able to notice that we had altered you in any way; it would have been her. And I have no doubts that she would let her distaste in our methods clear to us. We simply could not take that risk with someone with her connections. It became clear that we made the correct choice when she became the Shadow Broker. We tracked the Normandy and discovered that you had made repeated journeys to the Sowilo system and you always remained in the same place, sometimes for hours. Eventually we became curious. I sent a few of my operatives to the Sowilo system, around Hagalaz. And what did they discover?"

When Shepard's mouth twisted into a snarl The Illusive Man simply grinned and continued on as if this wasn't affecting Shepard at all, when in reality she had an inferno building inside, ready to break free and burn everything it possibly could. Namely; The Illusive Man himself.

"However, before we could attack the Broker's base and claim it for ourselves; Dr. T'soni decided that it would be a good idea to collide the base with one of our cruisers… Destroying all of the information we could of used to help us learn more about gaining control of the Reapers." Shepard couldn't help but smirk at that.

_Liara was as smart and resourceful as ever._

Shepard still could not fight the building anger that was rushing through her veins, though. The thought of someone even thinking about hurting Liara was enough to set Shepard's rage alight.

"Regardless of all of that, however, this is the way humanity _must_ evolve."

Shepard could see Anderson getting ready to argue back out of the corner of her eye. _Please don't, Anderson… Earth is going to need you after all of this. _

"There is always another way."

The Illusive Man turned on Anderson. Shepard's digit started to twitch against the trigger, the only thing holding it back was her rage. _Keep a hold of that, it is the only thing stopping you right now. _Memories of the now dead Kai Leng stealing the prothean VI right from under their noses and killing Thane only bolstered her resolve.

The Illusive Man became slightly confused when he felt Shepard resisting his hold, but he continued, dismissing Shepard's reluctance as his own fault for not pressing hard enough. "I have dedicated my life to understanding the Reapers, and I know with certainty: the Crucible will allow me to control them." His dead eyes stared off into the distance, as if he was contemplating something.

"And then what?" Shepard ground out. So far she had only been able to shift her arm a few inches, drawing the target away from Anderson's chest and onto his shoulder. _It isn't good enough. You need to stall this crazy bastard until you can be sure that there is no chance you will shoot Anderson. _"The Reapers possess a power that most can't even imagine. What exactly do you plan on doing with it?" As she finished her sentence the gun passed over Anderson's shoulder. _At least now he isn't in as much danger. I just need to get rid of this crazy bastard now._

"I will use that power to my advantage. Just look at what they can do!" The Illusive Man clenched his fist, a blue glow emanating around it. Shepard resisted all she could, but it was not enough. The gun in her hand fired. She was just thankful that she had been able to avoid shooting Anderson in the process.

It was at this moment that The Illusive Man let his guard down, thinking that he had won. And it was also during this moment when Shepard turned the pistol on him, firing a round off into his leg which caused him to collapse in a heap.

"The Reapers have changed you, can't you see that?" Shepard limped over to him, her gun pointing at his face just in case.

The Illusive Man shook his head. _They didn't change me! __**I **__was destined to change __**them**__! _"No, I took what I wanted from them! Made it my own!" He grimaced as his hands searched helplessly for the bullet wound in his shin. The pain was messing with his ability to control, to guide. This would not do! "This isn't about me or you. It's about things bigger than all of us!"

Anderson stepped forward, his own weapon aimed at the prone man upon the floor. "You are wrong, we won't listen to you."

The Illusive Man snorted again, his head hanging in despair. _Stop being weak! Convince them of the truth. Let them see the light. _When all he could do was hiss in pain the voice turned on him. _You are not worthy of control. You are weak. _"Are you going to listen to the withered old soldier, or are you going to see the light, Shepard?" Anderson tightened his grip upon the weapon, much to The Illusive Man's amusement. "He can only see the world down the barrel of a gun-" He trailed off into a groan as Anderson kicked him in the shin, his boot hitting the gunshot wound head on. "W-what if he is wrong, Shepard? What if controlling the Reapers _is the_ answer?" Shepard could see that he was in pain. No matter how much she despised him; the rightful thing to do would be to end his pain. She could not, though. She needed to at least attempt to talk him down.

"If we destroy the Reapers, this ends today. If you can't control them-"

"But I can!"

"Are willing to bet humanities existence on it?" That question seemed to catch him off guard. The Illusive Man began to clutch at his frantically shaking head.

"I know it _will_ work." He sounded more like he was trying to convince himself of that.

_Maybe pain dims the Indoctrination process? It certainly did a similar thing with Benezia… Although she did say she kept a part of her mind locked away so she could still help in the event that she became indoctrinated. _

"You can't be certain, can you? They won't let you."

He suddenly looked up, his eyes wild and worried. "No!" He pointed an accusing digit at Shepard. "I am in control. No one is telling me what to do-"

"Listen to yourself!" Anderson interjected. "You're. Indoctrinated."

The Illusive Man tried to get back to his feet, but the pain simply forced him back down. "No," This time he pointed at Anderson. "No! The two of you so self-righteous. Do you think power like this comes easy? There are sacrifices…"

"You sacrificed too much!" Shepard interrupted him this time. "Think about all of the times you needlessly slaughtered people to further your own cause. The Akuze incident, all of the scientists you turned into husks, even Admiral Kahoku. How do you live with yourself knowing you did all of that for a pointless cause?"

"I was only trying to protect humanity. The Crucible can control them. I know it can. I just…" He started muttering to himself as he thought of something new. "I just need a chance." Shepard's eyebrows furrowed sharply. It almost sounded like a plea.

"It isn't too late. Give up on your idea. We'll do the rest."

"I can't let go, Shepard. My way is the right way. Just because you two cannot believe it, it does not make it wrong." His fist started to glow blue as he summoned his biotics forth_._

"Of course you can't let go. The Reapers own you now." Anderson took a step back, his eyes urging Shepard to follow his lead.

Again; The Illusive Man attempted to scrabble to his feet, this time meeting some measure of success. He limped forward, biotically snagging Anderson's pistol out of his grip. "You would undo everything I have accomplished. I can't let that happen… I _won't_ let that happen." She could see how on edge he was. All it would take was a few more pushes. She felt terrible for using this tactic. She had convinced Saren to do the same. To put the gun to his head and pull the trigger. Convincing people to commit suicide was not how she wanted to remember herself, but it had to be done.

"You already have. Because of you, humanity is already undone." _And so it begins…_

The Illusive Man clutched his head again. Almost as if he was wrestling with his internal demons right in front of them. It was surprisingly disconcerting. "That's not true-"

"They have the Citadel! They have us fighting each other instead of fighting them!"

"I just need to-"

"You've done exactly what the Reapers wanted. You are still doing it because they _are_ controlling you."

The inside of The Illusive Man's head was a mess. All loud noises and harsh whispers. He caught the words; _failure _and _pathetic_ repeatedly. He felt his mind twisting in every direction, the pain it caused was nearly unbearable. "I… They're too strong." He lifted his hands to his head again. The brush of the pistol's cold metal against his temple was unusually soothing.

Shepard lowered her own weapon before taking a cautious step towards the man. "You're stronger. Don't let them win. Break their hold. Do not let them control you."

The orders were flooding in from everywhere. He could faintly hear Shepard guiding him on what to do. Inside; he could hear the Reapers also telling him what to do and how to finish it. He could not deal with this for much longer. He felt as though his brain was going to melt.

"I tried, Shepard…" He lifted the pistol up to his temple, throwing Shepard one last look before he tugged the trigger, officially ending his life.

Shepard felt her whole body heat up as she dropped to her knees. _His face… __**That **__was guilt. A plea for forgiveness. _She knew that The Illusive Man's methods were barbaric and disgraceful, but that look on his face… It was a look that had firmly imprinted itself upon her already scarred soul.

"Shepard?"

She peeled her eyes off of The Illusive Man's dead body to see Anderson standing before her, holding out his hand. "Come on. We need to activate those arms." She gave a solemn nod as she took his hand. She felt him pull her to her feet and give her a gentle nudge towards the panel.

_When did everything become so awful? Everywhere I go I leave a trail of bodies behind me, most of which happen to my friends. _Shepard was unfocused… Uncaring as she tapped in the familiar sequence of numbers and letters that would open the arms for them. She thought about Liara. She didn't know why, but she just felt a whole lot better with an image of Liara in her mind.

The guilt came quickly after that. _Sam. _She loved the woman, she really did, but with Liara… With Liara it was on a completely different plain. Her world had been revolutionised when she first met Liara, but she dared not admit how she felt. And then it had been too late. The Normandy had been attacked by creatures unknown and she had ended up dead.

_That was going to be the day I told her. _

Shepard had set it all up. She did her rounds. Filled out her reports. Made sure Joker was happy. _Last stop; the med lab. _She got halfway through the mess hall before the first explosion rocked the ship.

_That's when 'last stop med lab' turned into last stop forever. _

She hated it after that. Waking up day after day and not being able to just go and see her favourite asari in the galaxy. Not being able to just stroll into the cramped little lab at the back of the ship and share a laugh and talk with her best friend. Shepard needed a good talk… She _needs _a good talk.

_Unrequited love sucks…_

Shepard had been preparing herself to tell Liara how she felt, but she never expected Liara to return those feelings. Shepard grinned to herself, her grip tightening upon the podium for support. She could imagine how kind Liara would be about it. She would probably tell Shepard how she wanted them to stay good friends, and that she wouldn't tell another soul about her confession. She'd probably hug Shepard if it became too much, probably hold her hand too.

_I miss you so much, Liara, it actually hurts._

None of this mattered anymore, though. Liara had Feron. _Lucky bastard. _She knew that is how it would end. The guy _always _gets the girl, right? _Even if he was a particularly stupid drell… _Shepard had seen the way Liara's eyes had lit up when she gave her the data on the Shadow Broker. She also remembered the vulnerability there is well.

_It is about Feron. He is still alive!_

Shepard felt the same dagger in her heart now as she did then. She knew that Feron helped Liara to get her body back. She knew that he sacrificed himself so that Liara could escape safely. As heartless and selfish as it seemed; none of _that_ mattered anymore. Feron took Liara away from her.

_Don't be pathetic. You never 'had' Liara to begin with. _

Shepard did not care about what her brain thought. She wanted to be with Liara. She wanted to give the asari everything she had. She smirked as she thought on that a little more.

_You'll give her infinitely more than Feron ever could. _With a smirk and hardened resolve, Shepard pushed herself away from the podium. _Screw Feron, Liara is __**my **__girl! _

"It's quite a view, isn't it?" Anderson came up beside her, giving her a careful pat upon the back. Both of them looked out onto earth. It was beautiful. Despite the war and the death. This is what so many were fighting for, Shepard was too, but she had more to lose now.

Shepard winced as she turned to sit down, her back leaning against part of the raised floor. Anderson quickly followed suit, sitting beside her. "Best seats in the house." She heard Anderson chuckle quietly before trailing off.

"God… It feels like years since I just sat down." He craned his neck to look over at Shepard. _She is barely holding in there. _"I bet it is the same for you, isn't it?" When she did not reply, he looked over at her again, nudging her slightly.

"Mmm."

"I think you and I both deserve it, though." He could not deny that. He could feel his body getting more and more weary with every breath he took. His head lulled forwards, the tiredness beginning to get the better of him.

"Stay with me. We are almost through this."

"You did good, child… You did good. I'm… Proud of you."

"Thank you, Sir." When there was no response, Shepard looked over to him. "Anderson?"

She didn't have time to check if he was okay. She felt herself begin to slip into the blackness as well. _So much pain. Too much pain. Need… Sleep. _

_*Shepard. Commander!* _

Why wouldn't they just let her be? There was not one single time in her entire life where she had slept without someone or something waking her up. When she was younger, it was either the authorities telling her to move along or it was someone trying to attack her. In the Alliance it was always 'up early, get the job done'. Waking up at 5:00AM just so she could fill out reports or do her exercises. Cerberus was the same, only she had an AI to yell at her if she refused to get out of bed. Now it was not as simple. No. Now every night she would wake up covered in sweat, breath ragged and uneven because of nightmares. Sam was there to comfort her most of the time, but it did not really help. Every time she closed her eyes she saw that little boy burning. The vision was engrained on the inside of her eyelids.

"I… What do you need me to do?" Shepard struggled for a while, eventually getting herself into a position where she could stand up. She couldn't stand, though. She put her weight on her legs and pushed herself up, but her ankle just gave way, her body tumbling uselessly back down to the ground.

_*Nothing is happening. The Crucible isn't firing. It has to be something on your end.* _

Shepard did not reply. She was too busy attempting to claw her way over to the podiums panel. Bloodied digits slid against the metal surface as she tugged herself ever closer to her target.

_*Commander Shepard!* _

Shepard let out a weak whine as she pushed herself up to reach the interface. "I don't see- I'm not sure how to…"

_Blackness._

Shepard was gone before her head even hit the ground.

_*Commander!*_

Shepard didn't know what happened after that. One minute she was talking with Hackett and the next some sort of… Holographic child was telling her to wake up. She did as he asked and quickly got to her feet.

_The pain?_

The pain had vanished. Her cuts still bled and her bones still creaked, but she did not feel a thing. It was a blessing, really. She was talking. She did not feel like she was, but she _was. _Shepard did not know what to think. _Where the hell am I? _The holographic child told her that they were both on the Citadel, which only served to confuse Shepard more. _This doesn't look like the Citadel to me… _

"Who are you?" Shepard was breathless. All around her she could see the war. Reapers flew by yet they paid neither her or the boy any attention. _Am I dead?_

"I am the Catalyst." This isn't right. The Citadel was the Catalyst, not this… Stupid kid!

"I thought The Citadel was the Catalyst."

"No. The Citadel is a part of me."

A nearby Reaper unleashed its beam upon a row of turian cruisers, soundlessly destroying them all. None of this mattered right now! People were dying. She needed to end this once and for all.

"I need to stop the Reapers. Do you know how I can do that?" Maybe it wasn't wise to get frustrated at a person she did not even believe to be real. She could not help it, though. There was a lot to be angry about.

"Perhaps. I control the Reapers. They are my solution."

Shepard could not believe what she was hearing. _How was destroying half of the known galaxy a solution to anything? _"A solution to what?"

"Chaos."

She was enraged. She would not show it. For the sake of the galaxy's safety she kept it bottled up. She could not focus on what he was saying after that. She was taking it in, somehow. She just did not want to hear why this all happened. Why so many died as part of a pointless 'solution'. Some of her closest friends included. The child spoke about the Reapers, telling Shepard about their goal. The child also told her about the Reapers' origin. It spoke about how their creators were turned into the first Reaper and it sickened Shepard just to think about it.

Then he finally offered her a new solution. A way to end it all. Shepard could _destroy_ them all, but in doing so she would destroy all other synthetic life, too.

_EDI. The Geth. The mass relays. Everything, even herself apparently._

It was a high price, but it was one she was willing to pay if it meant ending the suffering of trillions.

Then there was _Synthesis._

She could give up her own life… Add her energy to that of the Crucibles. Everything that made Shepard who she was would be absorbed and sent out, altering all synthetic life to give them what all organic life had. It would also give organics what the synthetics had. Their knowledge, their ability to calculate automatically, almost everything.

Lastly; there was _control. _

Shepard immediately shot that idea down as soon as the child mentioned it. She refused to become like The Illusive Man. She wouldn't follow his idea. She _couldn't._

"You must make your decision." The Catalyst took a step back from her. Observing her as she weighed up her options.

The bottom line was that Shepard wanted peace. There could be no peace so long as the Reapers existed. People such as Cerberus would rise up again and would easily try to control them. If not that then the Reapers would somehow end up attacking everyone again. Shepard could not take that risk.

All of the options ended with her death. She shouldn't have been surprised by that. Half of her thought dying for a worthy cause was okay. She would have achieved her goal and could then lie in peace. The other half of her just couldn't do that. She needed to stay alive and help with the rebuilding efforts. It was selfish just to leave everyone to fix a mess that she felt was partially her responsibility. She didn't know though, maybe her opinion would change.

_Synthesis._

_Destroy._

Those were really the only options here. The Geth, EDI and every other synthetic (except for her) could live on if she chose to synthesise with them and she was happy with that. On the other hand; the Reapers would still be around, and that was something she could not accept.

_Destroy it is then. _

She began walking towards the red contraption on the far right. _This is it Dexter. I hope you've made peace with yourself. _When she got closer, she felt an odd sense of distress wash over her.

*Bang*

_I haven't made peace with myself._

*Bang*

_And I hate myself for it._

*Bang*

_But at least I haven't burdened anyone._

*Bang*

_What about Sam?_

*Bang*

_I adore Sam…_

*Bang*

_What about Liara?_

The glass shattered, the metal beneath it exploding, making her stumble back slightly, but she pressed forwards.

*Bang*

_I __**love **__Liara._

The whole piece of machinery exploded outwards, enveloping her in flames.

_This is it Shepard. You'll still have time to make peace with yourself._

_What?_

There was nothing else. Her whole world went dark. She felt numb and cold. Like she was falling. It was painless and she wasn't afraid. She was just confused. _Who the hell said that?_

* * *

I know I promised you this last time, but I forgot about this part so I had to add it in. Anyway; the next chapter will be much shorter. This time I honestly swear by that. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter Three: Wait

**Divided Plans: **

N.J Jordbrukaren.

Wow, first off I am going to thank you guys and girls for giving me such positive feedback thus far. Rest assured all questions will be answered in time, but yes Theodur; Shepard _is _making an ass of herself.

Alexi Murdoch – Wait.

* * *

**Cha****p****ter Three: Wait,**

_This is it, isn't it, Shepard?_

Shepard grinned at the thought. No, _this_ was it. Every breath she took felt like it would be her last. It was _that _painful._ I always thought that something metal would kill me, but being impaled on a beam isn't what I had in mind._ Shepard could feel the blood begin the rise up the back of her throat, the distant coppery taste a warning of what was to come. _Fucking hell… This hurts so much._

Another breath, another wince. She would have tried to pull the beam out, as bad of an idea as it sounded, but at least it would ease the pain somewhat. She hoped it would, anyway. The only issue with that was that she could not find the strength to lift her arms, let alone grip the damn thing.

_Come on, Dexter, you are stronger than this!_ A raspy laughed filled the pocket hole within the mass of rubble. _If this is how you are going to go, after all you've been through, than you are pathetic. _

_No, I'm not…_

_Get up then._

_I __**can't**__, it hurts._

_You __**can**__ get up. Stop being weak._

_Shut up!_

_Get up, __**now!**_

Shepard suddenly lurched forward, the beam jarring painfully against her lung and ribs. "Fuck!" Shepard pressed as much of her hand to the surrounding wound as she could. _Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!_ As well as screaming within her head, she did it aloud, too, her voice deep and hoarse from over use. She could see the blood starting to trickle out from between her fingers, as well as tasting the stronger flavour of blood upon her tongue.

_Liara was right; this __**is**__ it._

* * *

Chakwas pulled back the curtain to reveal that Liara was in fact awake. Her eyebrows knit together when she noticed the slight sheen of sweat upon the Asari's brow. "Liara, are you feeling alright?" Chakwas tried to supress a frown when Liara visibly started, as if shocked by her mere presence.

"I… I'm fine, Doctor, just a bit groggy. Where is everyone?" _Where is Shepard?_ Liara went to get out of the bed, but Chakwas gently pressed her hands against the asari's shoulders, pushing her back into her original propped up position.

"Everyone else is on the battlefield still. The Reapers fell about an hour ago, but things are still hectic out there, what with the injured and so on." Chakwas smiled brightly, proud that Shepard and the many other soldiers out there had been able to achieve the impossible. To Liara Chakwas' eyes told a different story. Liara couldn't quite grasp what it was, but there was something there. "How are you feeling, anyway?"

_How am __**I**__ feeling? My leg is on fire and so is my heart. I __**need**__ to know where Shepard is… And I __**need**__ to know if she is okay. I cannot, no; __**will not**__ rest until I know she is in safe hands._

"Did Garrus come back, okay?" _Stop dancing around the question. Just ask if Shepard has come back yet!_ Chakwas hesitated and looked back down to her data pad before answering Liara's query, unknowingly filling the Asari with dread. "Doctor_?" Goddess, please say she is safe. __**Please…**_

"Garrus was injured during the final battle. I am told that a Brute caught him between a vehicle and a concrete wall. He seems no worse for ware, though. Just a little concussed." Liara smiled. That was good news, very good news, in fact. Just not the news she was looking for.

"And what about…" Liara trailed of as she suddenly became too shy to finish her sentence. _Come off it, T'soni! You're not shy, you are just __**scared**__._ Chakwas looked up from her data pad to look Liara in the eyes again.

"Shepard hasn't come back yet." The Doctor pointed out, her voice nothing but sadness. Liara's heart clenched painfully in her chest. The hope she had built up suddenly deflating. "Liara," Chakwas pulled a stool out from somewhere beside Liara's bed, her eyes not leaving Liara's for one moment. "You have to know that whilst the Crucible destroyed the Reapers, it also destroyed quite a bit of the Citadel. Assuming that is where Shepard ended up, the chances of her coming back are… Slim. I'm sorry. I know you two were close friends." Chakwas watched behind glassy eyes at Liara's face crumbled, the tears flowing freely from her sad blue eyes.

_This isn't happening. This __**isn't **__happening! _

"You said the chances are slim. So she _could_ still come back?" Liara sobbed openly, drawing the attention of the few nurses in the room towards herself. _She __**will**__ come back. She has done it before she will do it again. She __**has**__ to._

Chakwas stood up from her seat and pulled the reluctant Asari into a strong embrace. "Liara, you don't understand-" Before Chakwas could finish; Liara had managed to shove her away, her eyes ablaze with raw anger.

"Shepard. Is. _**Not**_. Dead. There is nothing there _not_ to understand!" She pulled the sheet away from her and got to work on ripping the IV drip out of her arm as well as the various pads that had been attached to her skin in order to monitor her vitals. "I won't just give up on her like that!" Chakwas went to stop Liara, but the outraged Asari simply pushed her away, her biotics igniting dangerously as if warning the Human off. _Shepard has done __**everything**__ for each and every one of us, the least we could do is search for her! _

"Liara, you can't leave. You are not well-"

"I don't care about myself, right now, Doctor! Shepard is out there somewhere, probably in pain. We need to help _her_ for once!" As Liara went to stand she lost her balance, tumbling straight into Chakwas' waiting arms. "Let go of me!" Liara pushed and tugged at the woman's arms as she feebly attempted to remove herself from Chakwas' tight hold.

"I'm sorry, Liara." Chakwas spared the hysterical asari a sympathetic look before she pressed a needle filled with sedatives into Liara's neck, knocking her out cold. "I'm so sorry."

* * *

**Alliance Base, Antalya, Turke****y****:**

"Lieutenant Commander Kaya?" Zeki turned to face the holographic projection behind him.

"Admiral Kazan. To what do I owe the pleasure?" He threw her a quick salute before returning to his previous parade rest stance.

She didn't need to, but she returned the salute. She respected Zeki Kaya greatly. He was a good man. And, after everything he and the rest of the Antalya base crew had been through trying to coordinate the Reaper attack from the ground, Admiral Kazan believed he deserved it. "Communications are down for most of the Eastern Hemisphere due to parts of the Citadels presidium and arms raining down upon Earth after it… Fired."

In case of events such as these (not that anyone knew that this was going to happen), communications between the Eastern Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere could be split, making it easier for one Hemisphere to create a new link to the other if one was made unavailable. Because parts of the Presidium had started falling onto the earth's surface, communications to the Eastern Hemisphere (the side that to the brunt of the damage) had fallen into disarray. The only way it could be contacted was either from somewhere outside of Earth's orbit, the Western Hemisphere or by using closed circuit short range communicators. It was a tricky system, but it was a system that humanity had quickly come to support after word of the collector abductions hit all those months ago. Had Earth been attacked during that time…Well, the system would have been crucial to humanities survival and the key to coordinating any evacuation processes. The system had been named The Kaiser Structure or 'TKS' after it's inventor Azha Kaiser over seven years ago.

"We were certain that TKS would be put into action as soon as we saw the vids of the Citadel exploding, so we sent out a few quick response patrols along the Turkish coast just in case." She paused, accepting a data pad off of somebody he couldn't see. After giving it a quick scan, Kazan looked back up to Lieutenant Zeki. "Our scouts found that a particularly large chunk of the Citadel has crashed into the earth's surface near Faralya. I think it is wise for me to send the best of the best to check it out." She finished with a smile. She knew that Zeki and his crew could see to this quickly, efficiently and quietly. That was why they were her best people.

"What do you think we will find there, Admiral?"

Honestly, she did not know. That was why she was sending him and his crew there. Kazan didn't expect them to find much more than a pile of metal and glass, but it was worth taking a look, regardless. "I am not sure, really. We were just been told it might be worth checking out. Other than that there is a communication hub in that region. Maybe fixing that will help bring emergency communications back online in your immediate area. I have already sent some of my best tech specialists there to rendezvous with you and your crew." The tech specialists she had to offer truly were some of the best and brightest the Turkish segment of the Alliance had to offer. Of course, half of her specialists had been sent up to work on the Crucible, but she had kept a handful with her at her base in Sierra Leone in case of a groundside emergency. It was important that all of the Alliances bases on earth were kept in working order and, seeing as she was charge of overseeing both the Sierra Leone base and the Antalya base, she wanted to keep both of her ends in good working order.

"All right, then. Thank you, Admiral." He saluted her again. There was a bright smile upon his face, one that Kazan took as his just being happy for finally being able to get out there to do some "proper" work, as he called it.

"Good luck out there, Zeki. Stay safe." And with that they both headed their separate ways.

"What are we even looking for out here?" A young marine said as he shifted in his seat for about the fifth time.

Zeki sighed from where he was stood over by one of the monitors. "Tahir, for the last time, we are going to investigate a chunk of the Citadel which crashed here after parts of the Presidium exploded." He could sense Tahir's frustration. If he had not been filled in properly by the Admiral he probably would have been annoyed too, but right now, they had their orders. It was up to them to execute them efficiently.

"Bok…"

Zeki turned his back to the boy to hide his smile. _Despite everything, he is a good soldier. _Zeki straightened up and turned back around, his back leaning against the warm hull behind him. _It is just a shame about his attitude._

"Commander, we have arrived at the LZ. I am opening the hatch now." The pilot guided the shuttle down onto the grassy bank.

"Okay. We are rendezvousing with a tech team so that we can try to bring the communications hub online. I want Tahir, Olivia and Şahin with me. Tabak and Rauf; you join up with the tech specialists and go with them to the tower." After a thoughtful pause and a hard look he continued. "Make sure nothing happens to them." Each soldier got to their feet, firing off a "Yes, sir!" as they exited the shuttle and went to their designated areas.

The tech team quickly met with the others and began their journey up the hill and up to the communications hub. Tahir, Şahin and Olivia stood in a line next to the shuttle as they patiently waited for their commander to disembark. "Do you think we will find anything exciting?" Tahir looked over to Şahin who stared back at him blankly, his dark eyes full of blatant disinterest.

"I don't care. As long as we get the job done, that is all that matters." Şahin straightened his posture, his hands clasping together behind his armoured back.

"Allah kahretsin, you really do have a stick up your arse." Before Şahin could throw him a retort Zeki appeared at the shuttles door. Neither soldier would dare start a fight with the other in their Commanders presence. That was a sure way to discipline. And Zeki's form of discipline was not very pleasant at all.

Zeki squinted as his eyes searched the horizon. They were on a cliff top over hanging the beautiful Butterfly Valley. From here you could see right out into the ocean. The azure blue sea and the matching sky mixing together seamlessly off in the distance. _It is a beautiful thing to behold, for sure. _From here Zeki could easily pretend that the Reaper war didn't happen. That his friends and family were still okay. That earth had been left unscathed. He knew it wasn't fair to think that way. Turkey had not been hit as hard as some of the other countries had been. London was the worst by far. He had seen the reports. Complete neighbourhoods had been destroyed and here they were worrying about a single communications hub.

_I need to get out there. Do some good. _

"Where shall we start, sir?" Of course, Tahir had to go and disrupt his thoughts. Zeki lifted his hand, his fingers scratching at his dark goatee as he pieced together a plan of action.

_We could have done with one of the techies staying down here so that we could scan this pile of crap first. _"Tahir, run up that hill and see if you can loot one of the specialists." Zeki felt his body seize up slightly when the boy gave him a questioning glare.

"But… Sir…"

"Fine! Şahin, you know how to follow instructions. Go grab that tech specialist I asked for, will you?" Zeki swiped his hand across his forehead with frustration. _Scratch what I said about Tahir being a good soldier. He is a __**terrible **__soldier. _

Şahin fired of a quick salute. "Yes, sir." The tall man quickly made his way up the same route the tech group had taken. _Now there goes a good soldier. _

"Olivia, come investigate this pile of rubble with me." He beckoned her away with a single curled finger. "Tahir, you-" _What do I do with him? _With a shrug, Zeki pointed at the shuttle beside the boy. "Just… Guard the shuttle."

Tahir watched forlornly as the Commander disappeared behind the large pile with Olivia trailing behind him. As soon as Zeki was sure that they were out of sight he grabbed Olivia by the waist, tugging her close to his own body, their armour clacking together awkwardly. He leant down, his lips colliding with hers.

"I needed that so much." Zeki breathed as they parted. "Tahir is driving me up the wall. I couldn't be more stressed out if I tried." His dark eyebrows knit together when he saw that Olivia was laughing against the armoured crook of his neck. "What?" Zeki cupped her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"Nothing, it is just nice to know that Tahir makes you want to kiss me. We should bring him along with us more often."

Zeki's unamused façade fell briefly, a smile tugging at his sharp features. Olivia reached up, her fingers running through his slicked back hair. "I miss you." Zeki's smile turned into a cocky grin as he bent down to place a string of kisses against his lovers' jawline.

"We see each other nearly every day." He chuckled quietly when he felt her shove his shoulder. "But I understand." Zeki reached down grasping her hand in his, his thumb brushing over her gloved knuckles. "Come to my quarters tonight. I will have a surprise waiting for you, güzel." He watched her with amused patience as his words sunk in. Well… At least one of his words, anyway.

"Y-you really think that?" Olivia's tanned face blushed furiously as she stared into Zeki's dark brown eyes.

"Of course I think so. Hell, everybody thinks so. I've seen the way Tahir looks at you. It amuses me to think that he will never get to touch you the way only I can." Olivia wrapped her arms around Zeki's neck, kissing him with so much passion that she literally stole the air from his lungs.

"Mmm… I like that." As they went to lock their lips together again a loud clatter came from within the pile. Zeki instantly pulled away, unclipping his pistol with one hand and pushing Olivia behind him with the other.

"Bok!"

_Tahir. _All joviality left Zeki as he rounded back around the pile, towards the shuttle.

"Tahir, I told you to guard the shuttle. That usually means don't touch anything!" Zeki bore down on Tahir, his imposing height causing the hairs on the back of the boy's neck to rise. One of Zeki's hands flung out against Tahir's chest plate, pushing him backwards, away from the pile. "There could be anything under this. Valuable resources, who knows. Don't mess with what you don't understand!"

Tahir sighed, his hand flicking through the air dismissively. "I have had enough of this." Tahir was trying to say it quietly, but he failed on that front miserably.

"Excuse me, Corporal?" Zeki's voice was gruff and unforgiving. _No, __**I**__ am the one who has had enough of this. _Tahir turned around to face Zeki, his round face full of anger.

"You!" He jabbed his finger at Zeki's chest. "You always think you can tell me what to do, but guess what? _You_ can't!" Tahir examined Zeki's face for any sign of emotion, but it didn't come. This only served to make him angrier. _Time for a low blow. _"You are pathetic Zeki! Remember when those Reaper forces attacked our convoy and Yilmaz and Ferah ended up getting killed? That was all your faul-"

That was it. Zeki knew what Tahir was going to say before it had even left his mouth. Tahir hadn't exactly hidden the fact that he blamed him for that incident in the past. Why start now? The red haze fell and Zeki could not stop himself from swinging his fist squarely into the Corporals face. He felt something of Tahir's crack as his fist connected with the boy's nose.

"Don't you dare bring them up for the sake of an argument!" Zeki stared at Tahir as the smaller man crumbled into a pile beside the shuttle. He went for Tahir again, but someone grabbed him by the wrists, holding him back.

"Don't Commander, he isn't worth the energy!" Şahin was the one who was holding him back.

_It had to be him, didn't it? _With a sharp tug, Zeki freed himself from Şahin's grip. _I won't waste my energy on that runt… He really isn't worth it._ Turning his back to the Corporal, he flashed the tech engineer Şahin had brought down a charming smile, his hand extending out to her in greeting. "Lieutenant Commander Zeki Kaya. A pleasure."

The woman reluctantly accepted the gesture, her hand coming out to shake his. "Rahna Candemir, Tech specialist. It is… Good to meet you." Zeki's smile faltered briefly with the realisation that she must have witnessed the whole fiasco.

"I'm sorry that you had to see that, Rahna, but he was way out of line. I admit I may have overreacted, but he has had that coming for a long time. I just hope it knocked some sense into him."

Rahna chuckled at that. _I hope she doesn't take offence. _"Anyway, I wanted to know if you could scan this before we started excavating. Just so we know what we are dealing with."

"Of course, Commander Kaya. I will set things up, immediately." Rahna walked around to the other side of the pile, Şahin hot on her heels.

"I never thought I'd see Şahin infatuated with someone." Olivia looked over to him, her eyes sparking with amusement.

"No. I've never thought of him like that either, but he is hovering around her like nobody's business." Both of them shared a chuckle before someone from behind called, catching both of their attentions.

The shuttles pilot was crouching next to Tahir, dabbing at his bleeding nose every now and again with a piece of tissue which had been soaked in medi-gel. "What shall we do with him, Sir?" Tahir was obviously unconscious. His head was only being held up by the pilot's hand. Zeki grinned.

_I still think he deserved it._

"Keep him in the shuttle. Make sure he doesn't choke on his own blood." The pilot nodded and got to work on picking the Corporal up.

"Sir!" The alarm in Rahna's voice instantly drew Zeki's attention away from the shuttle.

He quickly darted over to where she and Şahin were crouching next to a chunk of metal and what looked like part of a flowerbed. _Is that blood? _He crouched down beside Rahna, his eyes looking for anything else out of the ordinary. "What have you got for me, Rahna?" She tugged at a shiny looking piece of metal, which turned out to be longer than she thought.

"Aman Tanrim…" Once she had liberated the out of place item completely, all three sets of eyes widened.

"Commander Kaya, these are Commander Shepard's dog tags." She ran her gloved fingers over the N7 indentation. A sticky red substance coming off them when she pulled her fingers away. "And they are covered in blood." Rahna paused, her hazel eyes going over the huge pile of twisted metal and broken glass above her. "Sir… I believe that Commander Shepard may be under all of this."

Zeki hopped to his feet, his fingers pressing to the communicator in his ear. "Tech team; forget about the communications hub for now. We think we have found Commander Shepard. We need your help moving this rubble. Get to it, ASAP!"

* * *

Okay, so a little bit of Turkish translating is needed I'm guessing.

Bok – Shit.

Güzel – Beautiful.

Allah kahretsin – Goddamnit.

Aman Tanrim – Oh my God.

Thanks for reading people. Expect an update soon!


	4. Chapter Four: When You're Gone

**Divided Plans: **

N.J Jordbrukaren.

Avril Levine – When You're Gone.

* * *

**Cha****p****ter Four: When You're Gone.**

It had been three hours since the rescue mission began and Zeki was propped up against a rock, a half-eaten energy bar in one hand and a bottle of energy drink in the other. After Rahna had recovered Shepard's dog tags they had continued their search, which paid off when they found a larger puddle of blood further in. They quickly surmised that, if Shepard was in there, then it must have been her blood. This led Zeki to call for immediate aid.

Half an hour later three shuttles full of soldiers turned up, as well as various pieces of machinery, which would offer support in clearing away the mess. Zeki had almost instantaneously started to rip the larger chunks of debris away from the pile using his biotic abilities, but he had not lasted long. Within the hour he was worn out and ready to keel over. Olivia had handed him a drink and a few of energy bars from the shuttles stores and had ordered him to have a rest. So tired was he that he forgot about the chain of command. He simply followed her orders and had ended up by the very rock he was leaning against now.

It was late afternoon in Faralya, the hottest time of the day. Zeki had a sheen of sweat covering his tanned face. The heat, mixed with his exhaustion was playing havoc with his body. He felt limp all over. Zeki grinned deviously, a small chuckle escaping him.

_Who would have thought something involving Commander Shepard would make me limp?_

He smiled brightly at his own joke whilst taking a long swig from the canteen he had been given. Zeki had seen the recruitment posters scattered around with Shepard's image plastered all over them. In fact, he had snuck one into his office back in Antalya. He believed it added a lot of aesthetic value to the otherwise bland room. Though Zeki would never admit it, he had quite the fanboy crush on the Spectre. When he had been cornered about it he simply stated that she was an idol. Someone who young kids could look up to. He marked it down to a small case of hero worship, but his friends knew better.

"You okay?" So caught up in his own reverie was he that he failed to notice Olivia walking his way. The woman sat down beside him, her hand coming up to trace his sweat soaked brow. "You look exhausted." She wiped the sweat off her glove on the grass before reaching for his hand. "You feel exhausted, too." His hand was flaccid in her own.

His dark brown gaze turned on her, his exotic eyes pinning her. "Don't worry about me." With effort, he lifted her hand to his lips. "Once the energy stuff kicks in I will be good to go." They both sat there in a comfortable silence for a while. Just gazing out onto the beautiful azure sea.

"Commander! Olivia!" Both of their attentions were drawn to the tech engineer who was stood before the semi destroyed pile, her arms flailing wildly. Olivia hopped to her feet first, helping Zeki up afterwards. The rescue site it was a hive of activity. Medics surrounded the small cave that had been created in the side of the pile, blocking Olivia and Zeki's view. Being the smartest of the pair Olivia quickly surmised that they must have found someone. That was when Dilara came racing over to them.

"They have found her!" Zeki could see the excitement, worry and concern in the young woman's face. The way she was biting furiously at her fingernails gave it away, as well.

_Seems I am not the only one who has a crush on Shepard. _Zeki chuckled tiredly.

"Lieutenant Commander Kaya, you may want to see this." The elderly female medic kneeling next to the cave pushed herself backwards, creating space for him.

It was Shepard, all right. Completely battered and covered in blood. She was barely breathing. Zeki winced when he noticed the thin metal beam protruding out from the right side of her chest. It was smothered in blood, as if she had been clawing at it. It obviously didn't work, though; the beam was still impaling her.

"We need to cut that beam so that we can get her out of here." Another medic pointed out.

Anger spiked within him. _Are they seriously going to stand here debating things whilst our galaxy's hero lies here in pain? _He turned on the medic behind him, his dark eyes ablaze with barely contained rage. "If that is what you need to do get moving!" The medic flinched and took a step back from him. His hands coming up in a defensive gesture.

"We can't!-"

"Why not?" Zeki jabbed a finger in the medic's direction. The elderly female medic who moved to let him see Shepard got up from her position, her gloved hand coming up to give Zeki's armoured shoulder a quick squeeze.

"We do not have access to a plasma cutter. If we use more… archaic methods of cutting the beam it will cause her a lot of pain." Zeki's face fell into a forlorn expression, his eyes flicking from the medic to the unconscious Shepard and back again.

"She is unconscious, she won't feel a thing!" He could hear the desperation in his own voice, but he didn't care.

The medic smiled faintly. "It doesn't work like that, Commander. Once we start cutting it she will be woken up by the pain. She'll be awake whilst we saw through the pipe. I don't even have to tell you about how much the vibrations would hurt her inner muscles."

"Use painkillers and medi-gel to numb her down." Zeki was grasping at straws now. He knew that nothing he could suggest would be of use, but he tried, regardless.

"If we give her any more pain medication her heart rate will slow dramatically." She sighed when she realised that Zeki had not caught on to what she had meant. "Her heart rate is already dangerously low. If we give her something else to numb the pain it could end up killing her." She pressed her hand against his chest plate. "I'm sorry, Commander Kaya, but there is nothing we can do." The medic let go of him and went to leave, but Zeki caught her arm, pulling her back.

"Shepard just saved _all _of us from a horrible, painful death via the Reapers. She risked her own life for every person on the face of this forsaken galaxy. The least you could do is try a little harder to find a way to get her out of there alive!" The medic stared at him blankly for a few painful seconds before nodding her head.

"Okay… okay. I'll find a way." She knelt back down by the cave, her hands frantically going over the various dials and buttons upon the machines surrounding Shepard. "If we administer medi-gel directly into the surrounding wound, we might be able to saw the beam off without it causing her too much pain." That was hardly a good solution, though. She used the term 'without it causing her too much pain' very lightly.

"I'll cut it." Zeki stepped forward, his dark eyes ablaze with determination.

"You'll need to be quick cutting the beam. With the painkillers in her system her blood will be slightly thinner. She'll bleed out if you take too long." She paused, passing Zeki the correct pieces of equipment for the task. "You need to be careful, as well. If you are too rough in cutting it you will cause her more pain and she will-"

"Die. I get the gist." Zeki cut her off. He was not gentle about pushing her out of the way to get to Shepard. "Can everyone get out of the way! I need to focus." Everyone around him dispersed. Even the two medics stepped away from him a little. After a relaxing moment of silence, Zeki examined Shepard's beaten face, his armoured hand coming up to brush some of her dark hair away from her bloodied face. "Everything is going to be okay, Shepard. I believed in you before, I'll believe in you now." He pressed the saws blade to the thin metal beam, rubbing it against it slightly so he could create a groove to start with. "Just focus on my voice. Nothing else matters." He pressed the hacksaw blade harder against the metal pipe and began moving it to-and-fro.

Shepard's mouth twisted into a slight grimace. _This __**is**__ hurting her. _He could not imagine what the pain was like, but having a metal pipe jammed through your ribcage could not have been the most pleasant sensation in the galaxy. He quickly shoved those thoughts aside. _Focus Zeki, damn it! _He grasped the beam as far down as he could without touching Shepard's injured chest. _Steady… _He paused for a brief second to reign in his bearings. _You can do this Zeki. Shepard is depending on you. _A grin came to the soldiers face. _Never thought I'd hear that. _Once he was refocused, Zeki pushed the blade away from him and drew it back in one fluid movement.

A groan drew him away from his current task. Without moving his head, Zeki looked up. _Shepard…_

"Hurts…" Her dark brown eyes met with his similar ones.

Zeki felt his heart stop at the eye contact. He knew that now was no time to become star struck, but he could not help it. There were so many stories about her, half of which he would not have thought believable, had she not saved the entire galaxy. He pushed that all aside again. "Shepard, you need to stay calm and stay still. I know that is a big ask, but believe me, it is better than the alternative."

Shepard took in a wheezy breath and flashed him a very brief smile. "What…" She winced harshly. Her dark eyes somehow turning darker. "What alternative?" She looked at him straight in the eyes again, causing Zeki to freeze up.

_How did she get people to work with her so efficiently? All I can do is seize up._

"Death. You know the drill." Shepard let out a raspy laugh, which quickly turned into a groan of pain.

"I…" She swallowed thickly. "I know the drill all too well." Her gloved digits clawed at the rubble beneath her. Seeing her pain, Zeki briefly let go of the pipe, his hand moving to grip Shepard's.

Zeki smiled over at her. "Yeah, well… It paid off in the end." His eyes lifted her hers. "You saved the galaxy, Commander." His attention turned back to the half cut pipe.

_She'll bleed out if you take too long. _

The medic's words drifted through his mind, quickly pulling him back to the matter at hand. "Shepard, I'm going to carry on now. You have to hold in there." _You __**have **__to. _The Commander gave a faint nod of consent before going completely still (apart from the light shift of her chest as she breathed.) Zeki swallowed, his hand coming up to wipe the sweat off his brow.

Gone was the fatigue of earlier. The energy had surged back into him and he was sure that it had nothing to do with the energy bars or drinks he had consumed. He gripped the pipe again before carefully manoeuvring the hacksaw back into the swing of things. _Come on, Zeki. You have about three more centimetres to go. You can do this._ The man grit his teeth harshly as he powered on.

"Liara...?" Shepard's hand reached out, weakly tapping his cheek as he continued to dissect the beam.

_Liara? Come on, Zeki! She's imagining things. Hurry it up, before she ends up bleeding out!_

One final push and the bar snapped off. He tossed the piece behind him as his other hand gave Shepard's one final squeeze. "Hang in there, Kahraman." Shepard made no sound of protest as he ran out of the cramped cave. That only scared him more. She was being unresponsive.

"The pipe is out of the way. Get her out of there!" He pushed the male medic towards the cave as he ran towards the shuttle. He was not willing to separate from Shepard. Not even for a moment until he knew that she was out of the woods. "Nikolai, once we have loaded Shepard in get us to the infirmary. ASAP!" The pilot nodded as his digits flew over the shuttles holographic interface.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Zeki turned to see the group of medic's about to load the stretcher with Shepard upon it into one of their shuttles. He angrily paced over to them, his finger pointing into the face of the same male medic he had shoved earlier. "You load her onto _this one_." The medic he was pointing at carefully let go of the stretcher and paced over to Zeki.

"With all due respect, we are taking her to the hospital in the most suitable vehic-"

"No." Zeki cut him off abruptly. "We are taking her to the _**best **_infirmary, in the _**best **_shuttle with the _**best **_pilot." Zeki motioned the medic's holding Shepard's stretcher to carry her over to the shuttle behind him. "With Nikolai's flying skills you won't need to keep injecting her up to the eye balls with painkillers. We'll be there in about ten minutes." With that, Zeki turned on his heel and ran towards the now hovering shuttle.

"Young people… They think they know it all." The medic muttered angrily as he watched Zeki's shuttle disappear into the distance.

* * *

_Bullets. Explosions. Screaming. Crying. Blood. Bodies. __**Death.**_

_Liara crouched down behind some kind of bright red, upright cuboid. She winced when a loud screech came from behind her. _

_**Banshee. **_

_No, no, no, this was not going to happen again. Liara twisted her head back so she could look through one of the little glass panes. She was correct in her assumption. The banshee was hovering toward her location in that eerie that they always did. Liara swallowed thickly. _

_**This isn't right. **__She turned slightly to look at the red object she was leaning against. __**This wasn't where I hid. **__There was a sudden thud from the left. She twisted back around to see what other foul creature had decided to attack her…_

_**Shepard.**_

_Liara released a breath she did not even recall holding in. The Commander ran over to her, sitting against the red thing like Liara was. Liara could not keep her eyes off the human. That perpetual smirk was there as bright as ever. Her dark brown eyes were twinkling like shining beacons amongst the grimy landscape of her face. She had never been so glad to see another being in her entire life. _

"_Liara, that banshee is moving in." Shepard's eyes bore straight into Liara's own, her eyebrows furrowed slightly. "I can't let it get to you." Shepard reached up, cupping Liara chin. The thumb on her other hand came up to brush a tear away from Liara cheek. "This will be the last time you will ever see me." Shepard went to stand, but Liara pulled her back down. _

"_No. You cannot leave me… Us. You can't!" She moved into a kneeling position just like Shepard. "We need you." Liara sobbed openly as she took Shepard's gloved hand, placing it against her stomach. The only other time she had felt pain like this was when Shepard died during the collector attack. It was as if her entire world were being ripped away from her all over again._

_Shepard looked up from the ground, her eyes flickering from Liara's eyes to the hand Liara had moved to her abdomen. "You… You're pregnant?" Liara gave the confused human a watery smile. _

"_Yes." She let go of Shepard's hand and grabbed both sides of Shepard's face, pulling her in for a desperate kiss. "Don't go, Shepard. We can defeat it together." Her pale blue eyes pleaded with Shepard just as much as her voice did. A painful moment of silence passed between them. The only thing punctuating the silence was Shepard's soft sigh. _

_Both of the soldiers' hands came up to her face to rest atop Liara's own. "I can't." Liara felt her heart wrench apart. "That isn't how it happens. I will always die, Liara." She leant forward, touching her forehead to Liara's, their eyes locking together. "I'm sorry." Shepard pushed away from Liara and dashed off in the direction of the banshee. _

_Liara twisted her head around to look through the glass again, despite every fibre of her being telling her to get up and help Shepard, she just couldn't. It was like her body was paralyzed. The only thing that would move was her neck. She saw Shepard fighting the banshee. She saw the banshee retaliate._

_**A flick of the wrist. That was all it took.**_

_Shepard fell, but not before she could deliver the killer blow to the foul Reaper creature. The banshee crumbled to the floor, screaming in pain as she clawed at Shepard's limp ankle. _

"_Shepard!" Whatever was keeping her hostage relinquished its hold on her, letting her run towards the woman she loved. "Shepard?" Liara rolled her Commander over, her arms cradling the human's limp body against her chest. "Shepard, please!" Her thumb brushed some of the grime off of Shepard's cheek, but it did nothing. _

_It was then that Shepard began disintegrating in her arms. She turned to ash right before her. There was nothing left. _

_**Without Shepard I am nothing. **_

_Another screech up ahead tore her attention away from the ashen pile that was once Shepard. _

_**Banshee.**_

_A single tear fell from her cheek, falling into the ashes beneath her. They immediately soaked it up. Liara smiled at the sentiment. She remembered Shepard's thumb gently brushing across her cheek, collecting the stray tear before it fell. _

_**She is not even here and she is still collecting my tears…**_

_Another screech sounded out. The banshee honed in on her, but she did not care anymore. The sooner her end came, the sooner she would be with Shepard again. Liara clutched her hands to her armoured abdomen as she banshee paused right above her. It eyed her up, as a varren would do to its next meal. With a faint grunt, the banshee drifted by her. _

_**What? No! **_

_Liara broke down, more tears spilling from her eyes. _

_**What kind of cruel torture is this? **_

"_The kind where you never see Shepard again. The galaxy will never let you two be. Shepard is mine." _

_Liara looked up to see Traynor standing over her. The woman had a twisted grin on her face as she looked down upon Liara. _

"_The kind where you never she Shepard again." She repeated, her voice devoid of any emotion what so ever._

"_The galaxy will never let you two be." It was like a mantra. Every word Traynor said was like a thousand knives digging into Liara's chest._

_Traynor stepped forward again, her feet pressing Shepard's ashes into the muddy ground beneath them. "Shepard is __**mine**__."_

* * *

Chakwas struggled to hold Liara down as the asari unconsciously struggled against her hold. The monitor beside her was beeping frantically, matching Liara's wild heartbeat. Something was wrong. "Doctor Ginovai, administer the sedative, already!" She practically growled as a harsh convulsion took Liara. A pair of asari nurses ran over to assist him in holding Liara's arm down so he could insert the syringe without harming her.

"It is done. She should calm down now." Just as he said the convulsions came to a gradual stop. Chakwas released a breath of air when the heart monitor slowed to a relaxing pace. "Doctor? A word, please." Ginovai took his data pad and walked Chakwas outside the room. "We are not equipped to deal with things of this nature. We have no idea what is wrong with Dr T'soni." His paused. A rarity for most salarians. "We need to call in an asari specialist."

Chakwas mulled over his point. She would not deny that his observation was correct; they had_ no_ idea what they were dealing with. That being said, Chakwas got the feeling that calling in outside help was not the way to go just yet. "I agree with what you are saying, doctor Ginovai. I just ask that you do not call in the specialist just yet. I want to hear what Liara has to say first." A tense silence dominated the corridor, both doctors eying up the other cautiously.

"Fine." Ginovai lifted up the data pad, typing something in before looking back up to Chakwas. "If the sedative serves its purpose she should be awake in about two hours. You can question her then." The salarian took a few steps towards the exit before turning back. "But if this happens again before then, I will not hesitate to call help in. I hope you understand that." He gave Chakwas no time to reply, the doors clicked together, punctuating his exit.

* * *

The door opened with a quiet swish, revealing a smiling Olivia in the doorway. Zeki had fallen asleep in the recliner next to Shepard's bed, his head resting against its guardrail. Olivia's smile grew wider when she saw that he was drooling slightly.

She took a napkin from the tray of food she had brought in with her and crouched in front of him. "Zeki." Her thumb traced one of his sharp cheekbones, gently bringing him out of his slumber. Dark eyes opened, blinking a few times as he tried to regain his bearings. She silently dabbed the drool off his chin and out of his goatee.

"Wha…" He cleared his throat as quietly as possible so as not to disturb Shepard. "What happened?" He groggily rubbed as his eyes. He had been by Shepard's bedside for as long as she had been in this room. Zeki had been at a loss for where to put himself when they rushed Shepard off into theatre. He had stood by the doors for a good twenty minutes with nowhere in particular to go. That was until Nikolai caught up with him. The pilot had recommended that he to go and take a shower. Which he then did. It was probably not wise to greet Shepard whilst covered in her blood. The shower was brief and it only served the one purpose of getting him clean. It did not relax him in the slightest. He just needed to know that the galaxy's saviour was going to be okay.

Three hours later and Shepard had been taken into one of the facilities ICU rooms to recuperate. Zeki quickly found his way there and had stayed with Shepard before eventually falling asleep himself. Today had been one of the most intense days of his life. The room's lights had been dimmed before he had gotten in there. The only source of light in the entire room was the orange display of Shepard's heart monitor. That lit the dark room well enough, though. Every now and again he would look over to see if Shepard was okay. He didn't know why. If something happened the heart monitor would tell him, but he just chalked it down to peace of mind.

"Why don't you go to bed, sweetheart?" Olivia was still crouched in front of him, one hand on his knee, the other running through his hair.

Zeki shook his head a little and yawned. "I can't." _If something happened to Shepard whilst I was sleeping I'd never forgive myself. _He did not know why he had become so protective of Shepard. It wasn't as if she even needed protecting. She was a very capable woman. He just… he just felt like he needed to return the favour. Shepard had been watching over the entire galaxy for how many years? It was someone else's turn to be her guardian now.

Olivia did not argue back. She knew what he was thinking. Zeki was a noble man like that. Sometimes too noble, but that was one of the many reasons she loved him. "Okay. Just…" She looked over to the tray of food she had placed upon the mobile table next to his chair. "Just remember to eat. I do not want you ending up in here as well." Olivia got to her feet, pressing a soft kiss upon Zeki's forehead before taking her leave.

Zeki sighed and rolled the table over himself. "Just me and you now, Sheppy." He smiled as he tucked into his tub of bulgur. He suspected that this had been ordinary canteen food, but something told him that Olivia had added something to it. He didn't care what. It tasted a hell of a lot better than it would have normally. As he lifted another forkful up to his mouth a groan sounded out next to him.

_Shepard! _

He immediately dropped the plastic fork into the cardboard tub and pushed the table away from himself. "Shepard, you okay?" She shifted slightly, her hand coming up to palm his face. "Of, course you are." His chuckle was muffled against her hand.

"Can I sit up, please?" Shepard asked groggily. Zeki immediately grabbed the bed's remote and raised it so that she was in a comfortable position. "Where am I now?" Her eyes adjusted to the dark room as she gave it a once over. Zeki sighed as he fell back into his own chair. This was going to be a bitch to explain.

"You are in an infirmary in Turkey." When Shepard did not respond, he continued. "After you activated the Crucible the Citadel shot out this… Red light. It went over everything, even us. It didn't do any damage, though. Not to us, anyway. The Reapers fell." That caught Shepard's attention.

Her head rolled over so that she could look the man in the eyes. "So they're all gone?" Zeki could hear the note of desperation in her voice. He could not blame her for it. Shepard had been fighting for years to reach this point. Years that had cost her the lives of some of her nearest and dearest friends… Even her _own_ life at one point.

"We assume so, yeah." Zeki smiled. If ever there was a time to celebrate, it was now. Even though the death toll had been astronomical, they _had _won. No one who had given their lives in the battle for survival had done so in vain. That was something both soldiers, and many more, could rejoice in. There was a pregnant pause as Zeki's eyes traced over Shepard's face. "We only won because of you, you know." Shepard closed her eyes, her head shifting so that she didn't have to look directly at him anymore.

"It wasn't just me. People died for this." She swallowed thickly. _Please say Liara is okay. _The stray thought brought a frown to her face. _Where __**is**__ Liara? Or anyone else for that matter. I need to find them. _Her eyebrows furrowed further. _I __**need **__to find __**Liara**__. _

Zeki did not argue back. It was not his place to question Shepard. Instead, he decided to turn the topic to something else. Pulling the wheeled table back over to himself, he looked up at Shepard. "I think the doc's thought you'd be out for longer," He organized the table so that his food was separated from hers. "You hungry?"

Shepard could not deny that she was. In fact, she was famished. _How long have I been here? _That being said; she was not really in the mood for food. She had questions that needed answering. She shook her head.

"Sure thing. If you _do _get hungry, though, your food is right here." He himself was starving. He picked the cardboard tub he had abandoned earlier and tucked back into it. "I know you are just dying to ask me something." He flashed her a grin.

Shepard shifted uncomfortably in her bed. She had no idea who this man was, or exactly where _she _was. Telling her that she was in Turkey was a tad vague. It was a huge country, after all. And why was he speaking to her like they were old friends? She spared him a sidelong glance. Screw it! She _did _have questions and she was guessing that _he _had the answers.

"Where am I?"

Zeki looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "I told you; we are in Turk-"

"I know that." She sighed. "Where exactly?"

"We are in the city of Antalya. That is on Turkey's west coa-"

"I know where it is." Despite everything, Shepard could not help but smile. The way the man's face contorted as he tried to explain things was slightly amusing. "Of all the places I could have landed; why here?" That question came to her the most frequently. Why didn't she end up in London? That seemed the most logical place to be, right now. _Liara might be there too. _Shepard frowned a little at the stray thought. _Shut up about Liara, already. _The Commander was so lost in her own thoughts that she failed to notice that the man had already started talking.

"-is a huge place, so it only seemed likely that pieces of it would scatter. Especially when the arms opened up." He took one look at Shepard's blank expression and decided to elaborate further. "We can only assume that when it fired the resulting explosion shot parts of the Citadel in every direction. Gravity took care of the rest. All we know for definite was that you landed in Faralya, just up the coast." Dexter nodded as she took it all in.

_How did I survive a fall like that? The last time I crash-landed on a planet, I died. _

Shepard groaned softly as she lifted her left arm. The entire bone had been completely shattered, so the doctors had no choice but to wrap it in plaster. They would have used an omni-cast, but they were almost certain that Shepard would not have wanted to see her arm underneath it. It was a horrific sight. Bits of bone had pierced through the skin and others were at very odd angles. Using her bandaged fingers, Shepard carefully tapped the thick bandaging that covered her chest, shoulder and most of her ribcage.

"What happened?" Zeki could hear the exhaustion in her voice and all she had done was lift her arm.

_She has a long way to go before healing properly. What did you expect, for her to just hop out of bed and be up and at 'em? _He glanced at Shepard before shoving another forkful of food into his mouth. _Well… after everything she has done, it really wouldn't surprise me if she did just that ._Swallowing the mush in his mouth, Zeki put the polystyrene tub back on the table and extended his hand out to Shepard, blanching slightly when he realised that she would not be able to take it. Instead, he gently took her fingers, giving them the tiniest squeeze.

"Before we go any further, I want to introduce myself; I'm Lieutenant Commander Zeki Kaya. It is a real pleasure to meet you Commander Shepard… despite the circumstances."

Shepard felt a weight lift off her shoulders. It was good to know that he was an Alliance man and, she was guessing, this was an Alliance facility. She had been worried that pirates or mercenaries had captured her. She would have thought of Cerberus, too, but they did not seem like an issue anymore.

"It's nice to meet you Lieutenant."

"Please," He pointed to his chest. "Call me Zeki."

"Okay then. It is a pleasure to meet you, Zeki." She paused briefly before returning to her original topic. "So… What happened?"

"Oh, right." He winced slightly as he thought back to the incident with the pipe. "Well…"

* * *

I promise that the next chapter will focus upon Liara a bit more. Poor woman has been taken out of the limelight somewhat. Apologies. Thanks for reading. Oh, and a few more things for you to learn. *Thumbs up*

Kahraman – Hero.

Bulgur – A type of food… Like rice or couscous.


	5. Chapter Five: Footsteps

**Divided Plans: **

N.J Jordbrukaren.

Thank you Midnight Lion for giving me the kick up the ass I needed to get this chapter out. And thanks to everyone else who reviewed, favourited, ect. You are all awesome! *Giant thumbs up*

Josh Osho: Footsteps.

* * *

**Cha****p****ter Five: Footste****p****s.**

Doctor Chakwas looked at Liara's sleeping form glumly. She had not told Doctor Ginovai this, but Liara had needed sedating again during the course of the night. Chakwas swallowed thickly as she remembered seeing Liara shuddering violently on the bed. Chakwas had administered the sedative herself. There was no need to alert the nurses. They would only go running back to Ginovai.

Chakwas felt the tears begin to well up. _You __**will **__**not**__ break now. _She ordered. It was hard to keep herself together, though. People had begun to assume Shepard was dead. Liara was unwell. Kaidan had been found injured… Chakwas took a deep breath to calm her frayed nerves.

Looking on the brighter side of things, all of Shepard's crew had survived the assault. Kaidan _was_ injured a little, three broken ribs, a slipped disc and a migraine from biotic over-use. But it was nothing medication and physical therapy could not fix. James had come back with nothing more than a few scrapes and burns. Garrus was doing a lot better now. He had recovered from his concussion and was up and about; doing anything and everything he possibly could to get under Tali's feet.

_Tali. _

Chakwas had worried about her a lot. It was not because she was not a capable fighter, because she was. Very capable, in fact. But with her immune system it would only take a small suit rupture and she could be out of the game. Luckily, Tali had been hyper vigilant of everything: her suits systems, her surroundings, her enemies… _**everything**_. She had come out with three, pinhole-sized suit ruptures that had been quickly dealt with. Chakwas had given her some dextro specific medicine for her fever. The quarian would have a minor cold for a few days, but Chakwas was just happy to see one of her dearest friends alive and well.

Javik was his usual self. Indifferent about almost everything that happened around him. Chakwas had not had the time to get to know him as she had with the other members of Shepard's crew, but she was happy in the knowledge that he had come out of everything physically unharmed. Prothean blood was non-existent outside of his own body, so if he suffered any kind of trauma the medical teams would not be able to help very effectively.

Then there was EDI. Chakwas found herself becoming close with the AI, well… as close as one could become with an artificial intelligence, anyway. Something had happened to EDI after the Crucible had been activated. It was as if she just… shut down. She had been put into one of the empty rooms. Joker had been with her constantly since then. He hardly ate, and he only ever slept if he passed out from exhaustion. Either way, he remained in EDI's room. The tech specialists had been hovering around her just as much as Jeff was. Samantha Traynor included.

When Chakwas asked Sam about EDI, the younger woman had broken down. Chakwas supported her without question. After making herself and the specialist a cup of tea each they had both sat down. Chakwas was worried about Sam. She knew about her relationship with Shepard. In fact, she was pretty sure _everyone_ knew about it.

"_I don't know how I'd cope without her, Karin."_ Sam had said as she dabbed the corner of her eye with the handkerchief Chakwas had given her. The couple had not been together very long but, from what Chakwas had seen, their relationship had flourished quickly. Shepard doted on Samantha hand and foot. Sam had laughed at that notion. She did not particularly agree with Shepard doing so, but she knew that it was simply in Shepard's nature to protect and take care of those she loved.

"_I __**will**__ find Shepard. No matter what."_ Chakwas swallowed thickly when she remembered the steely look in Samantha's usually warm brown eyes. Of course Chakwas wanted to find the Commander, too, but she did not feel as enthusiastic about finding Shepard alive and well as some of the others did. Not being in the fight, Chakwas had had an unhindered view of the battlefield. She was not sure that one person could survive that. Not even Commander Dexter Blake Shepard.

She felt bad for even thinking like that, but she could not deny the obvious. The Citadel was barely holding together. What are the chances that Shepard managed to activate the Crucible from one of the few undamaged areas up there? _Very slim, indeed. _

"Doctor Chakwas?" The familiar voice startled Chakwas somewhat, nearly causing her to drop her data pad.

"Liara…" Chakwas smiled in an attempt to soothe the confused asari, but it did not work. Liara continued to stare at her wide-eyed. Remembering her true reason for being here, Chakwas tugged at the hem of her lab coat before pulling a stool out from beside Liara's bed, perching herself upon it. "Liara," She started in a tone a mother would usually take with their child. "There is something I wish to discuss with you."

Liara's face fell. _She knows! She has to know, what else would she be addressing you about? _Underneath the sheet, Liara placed a tentative hand against the soft fabric covering her abdomen. _Oh, Goddess… _She closed her eyes briefly, attempting to stem the tears before they had a chance to fall.

"Is everything alright, Liara?" Chakwas lent forward, her hands gripping the edge of the bed.

Liara nodded silently. _Why can anything just be simple? _She sniffled back her tears as the question stuck in her mind. _Because Shepard is not here, that is why._

If Chakwas noticed her reaction, she did not show it. "Last night…" The human trailed off, her eyes lowering to the data pad. "Last night we had to sedate you multiple times whilst you slept. Do you remember anything?" Concerned pale green eyes met watery royal blue ones. Liara could not help but feel a little relieved. If Chakwas, or anyone else for that matter, found out that she was pregnant they would keep her here for longer. Liara did not have time for that. She _**needed**_ to go and find Shepard as soon as possible.

Liara refocused, looking back up into Chakwas' calm gaze. She did remember last night. She had suffered through one horrifying dream sequence after another, during which Shepard _always_ died. Liara could feel herself becoming more and more upset just by thinking about it.

"I…" Her voice hitched. Liara's throat felt too tight to speak. With a small cough to loosen her constricted windpipe, she continued. "It was nothing." Liara was not willing to crumble in front of Doctor Chakwas because of this. The human had enough to deal with without adding her feelings into the mix.

Liara started slightly when she felt a warm hand rest atop her own. "Liara." Chakwas' voice was stern, but caring. Liara looked back up to Chakwas, her blue eyes brimming with tears. "People do not just start seizing in the middle of their sleep for no good reason." Chakwas smiled faintly, encouraging Liara on. "Talk to me."

_If only I could. _Surely she could trust one of her oldest and dearest friends with this information. Liara nervously eyed Chakwas. _I cannot tell her. She will keep me from my quest to find Shepard. _Liara needed to find the Commander. Needed the woman safe and in her arms- Liara frowned a little. _She would not be in __**your**__ arms. _A part of her mind reminded her helpfully. _Traynor is the one she loves. You know this. Stop torturing yourself._

That was it. The straw that broke the camel's back. Liara felt her emotions slipping from her grasp and there was nothing she could do to rein them back in. "I… I can't to it, Karin." Fresh tears rolled down delicate blue cheeks. Chakwas was instantly there, holding her… comforting her.

"You do not have to do anything, sweetheart. Just let me take care of you now." Chakwas felt Liara's tears against the fabric of her lab coat as the asari pressed her face into her shoulder. Apart from Shepard, Chakwas was the closest to Liara. Chakwas had seen Liara through thick and thin, never giving up on her even when Liara believed that was the best way to go. The most notable time was after Benezia's death. She was ready and waiting to take care of the young archaeologist, but Shepard was there in a flash. The Commander had gone to Liara immediately after their debrief, staying in the med lab with her for a good few hours, only emerging to retrieve a box of tissues, a few pillows and a blanket. When Chakwas poked her head into the room later on, she saw Liara sleeping soundly on her cot. Shepard had propped two pillows under the asari's head and had secured the fleecy blanket around Liara's quivering shoulders. She smiled at the memory. Shepard was on the floor, leaning against the Liara's cot, her head sharing the same pillow as Liara. Even in sleep Shepard did not release her hold on Liara's hand. The sight was a sweet one to witness, indeed.

"We need Shepard," Liara sobbed, interrupting Chakwas' train of thought. Liara made a good point. The Normandy crew, despite everything, would still need Shepard when everything had brushed over.

_**If**__ everything brushes over, you mean. _Chakwas hated to admit it, but it was true. The galaxy may never recover from this. That is why they needed Shepard. The Commander would know exactly what to do to fix this, there was no doubt there. _Search for her then! _Chakwas frowned slightly. _I cannot leave everyone here injured and in pain whilst I go off searching for someone who may not even be alive. _She was right, there. It would be up to others to search for Shepard, if they wanted to at all, which, from what Chakwas had seen, was the general consensus amongst the Normandy crew. _First Samantha, now Liara. _Chakwas paused, a grin appearing upon her weary face. _If Liara goes, Garrus and Tali will, and if __**they**__ go many of the others will too._

"I have a feeling that everything will be fine, Liara." Chakwas pulled back from their hug, her eyes meeting Liara's. "You just need to rest up now, okay?" Liara nodded weakly. "Your leg will have healed up in about a day or so. After that, I will run through some physical therapy routines with you. Who knows, you might be out of here in a few weeks, give or take." Chakwas thought this was brilliant news, Liara, on the other hand, did not.

_A few weeks? I need to get out as soon as possible. I need to find Shepard. _Liara thought of Dexter lying in a ditch somewhere, blood everywhere. The thought made her heart wrench and caused her to feel queasy. In a few weeks Shepard could be dead, if she was not already. Liara was not willing to let the former happen. That being said, there was also the child to consider. Liara did not want hers and Shepard's baby to come into any danger. But in a few days, any simple test that Chakwas ran would be able to tell her about Liara's pregnancy. What would happen then? Liara did not want to think about it.

"Thank you." Chakwas nodded, giving Liara's cheek a gentle pat before exiting the room.

* * *

"Okay, Commander-"

"Shepard."

"Okay, _Shepard_. Your arm is healing a lot better than I thought it would." The medic lifted Shepard's cast, using his omni-tool to scan over it. "The medi-gel we applied underneath it is doing just the trick. Some of the more severe breaks are still there, but most of the fractures have healed." He paused as he gently placed Shepard's arm back onto a pillow. "The cast will need to stay on for a few more weeks, and after that we will keep it bandaged up to ward off infections and to keep the scar tissue clean."

"Scar tissue?" Shepard eyed him up, dark 'brows furrowed slightly.

"Yes." The medic nodded. "In some places your bones broke through the skin." He saw the disgusted look upon Shepard's face. Had he said too much? "It does not matter now. We fixed all that quite some time ago. There will be a few scars here and there, but just be glad that you survived." Shepard nodded, her dark eyes down cast. She _should_ be thrilled about that. Honestly, she went into London that day thinking that she was about to die. She had resigned herself to it. Now she was alive and well… _relatively_ well, anyway. She could not help but feel down heartened by the entire thing, though. Where was Liara? Where was Sam? She did not know if either was okay. Hell, she did not know if either of them had survived the whole ordeal. All she could do right now was hope, and hope she would.

"So, when can I get out of this bed?" She had only been in here a week or so, but it already felt like too long. Shepard was an outdoors person. She had lived most of her life outside, with the fresh air, the wind, the trees, the sun, the ocean. Being cooped up in a frigate drove her mad some days, but she coped. Now she was trapped in this infirmary. She just wanted _out_.

"It may take a while yet, Shepard." The Doctor sighed, rubbing his forehead with the back of his latex gloved hand. "We can only assume that it happened during the fall, but you broke and fractured your spine. Luckily that is all there was to it. It has not impaired your ability to move or function, as far as we know."

"How do you know that it hasn't?" Shepard frowned. How would she have lived without the use of her legs? "You haven't seen me walk yet." Shepard felt herself grow more confused when a smile appeared on the Doctor's face.

Without saying another word, he flicked Shepard's toenail, provoking a hiss on pain from the Spectre. "I get your point, Doctor."

"Good. Now rest up, Shepard." The Doctor stood by the doorway, scanning through his data-pad. "Someone is coming by later to run through some physical therapy routines with you." Shepard could not help but sigh. Physical therapy was the second worst type of therapy. The worst being psychotherapy.

* * *

"Doctor Chakwas!"

Karin dropped her fork onto her plastic tray and heaved a sigh. The one time she usually got to herself to think about the day's events was officially over. She looked up to see Ginovai hurriedly making his way towards her, data-pad in hand. Chakwas sighed again, pushing her tray away from her. She knew this was going to end with her running off to assist him in one of his godforsaken errands, so she may as well say goodbye to her lunch whilst she still had the chance.

"Doctor Ginovai." The salarian sat down upon the bench opposite her. "Something you need me for?" Chakwas used the small plastic stick she had been given to stir her coffee before replacing the lid. Ginovai took a moment to catch his breath, unusual for a salarian, but Chakwas waited patiently.

"It is about our patient-"

"Is something wrong with Liara?" Chakwas surged to her feet, ready to run to Liara's side at a moment's notice.

Ginovai shook his head, his hands frantically motioning for Chakwas to sit back down. She hesitated before doing so, torn between hearing what he had to say and rushing off to see Liara for herself.

"Nothing is wrong, per say." Ginovai cleared his throat, his big black and dark green eyes watching her intently. "We received the results of Liara T'soni's blood works..." He paused, a worried expression falling over his face. "There are some odd results here, but I thought I would leave it with you." Ginovai stood up from his seat. "Let me know what you find." Without sparing her a backward glance, Ginovai headed out the door.

Chakwas took a sip of her coffee, her other hand unlocking the data-pad containing Liara's results.

_Name: (Doctor) Liara T'soni._

_DOB: (Asari Date) Fourth Day of Zenith 2077._

_(Human Date) September 4__th__ 2077._

_(Salarian Date) Daneaeis Fourth 2077._

_(Turian Date) 09/04/2077._

_POB: Neomisia hospital, Armali, Thessia._

_Age: 109._

_Blood Type: XO+_

Scanning further ahead, everything seemed absolutely fine. Chakwas frowned. _What was Ginovai talking about? There is nothing odd here… _Chakwas frowned harder as her eyes caught a specific piece of information. She forced herself not to choke on her coffee, swallowing as quickly as humanly possible so she could gawk at the data-pad.

If Liara were human they would have been called her hCG levels - Human Chorionic Gonadotropin. In layman's terms; it was a hormone. However, due to her asari…ness, they had classed the hormone as 'aCG' – Asari Chorionic Gonadotropin. It made sense, really. Chakwas shook her head, clearing it of medical jargon. Besides all of that, Liara's aCG levels had risen, which meant…

_Liara is pregnant._

She couldn't believe it. She would ask for the tests to be run again, but they would have done that several times in the lab, anyway, just to be sure. There was literally no doubt about it. Chakwas could not wrap her head around it. Despite everything, she still saw Liara as the sweet, shy archaeologist that she had met all of those years ago. Liara was like a daughter to her. The thought of someone doing this to Liara and leaving her in this vulnerable state was enough to bring Chakwas' anger up.

That was just it, though. Asari _chose_ when to become pregnant. The pregnancy did not always take straight away, but an asari could make herself receptive to taking their partners traits. If it didn't happen straight away, they could keep trying. Really, it all hindered on the mental state and strength of their partner. Chakwas was not an expert, though, so she could hardly say for certain how everything worked.

Those thoughts brought up another batch of questions, the biggest of which involved the identity of the father.

Chakwas filed that away as irrelevant for now. Getting up from her seat, she powered towards the corridor that led to Liara's room. Leaving nothing but cold food and coffee in her wake.

* * *

"You know, Dexter, the more you complain, the harder I am going to push." Zehra, her new physical therapist, said as she pressed into the tense muscle of Shepard's shoulder. Dexter had been acting like a child the entire time she had been there, thus far. Zehra had to admit, it was a little endearing, but, if Shepard wanted to heal properly, she had to cooperate.

"Yeah?" Dex could not see it, but Zehra was smiling brightly behind her. The therapist found it slightly amusing how the saviour of the galaxy was sat here whining like a child about the pain, when not too long ago she had been pulled from a pile of rubble with a gaping hole in her chest. "You know, this would make for a great torture method. You should start a business," She paused, her face contorting into a disturbed expression. "You might only attract a certain type of customer, though." Shepard grunted when she felt one of Zehra's nails prod at her back through the thin material of her black t-shirt. "Ow! Do Alliance regs let you abuse Spectre's like this?"

"You tell me, soldier." Zehra's fingers moved, massaging the base of Dexter's neck.

"Well, _this_ Spectre votes no. Do you think I can change the regs?" Shepard's voice trailed off as Zehra pushed the back of her head forward.

Zehra chuckled a little as she started to gently massage the area surrounding Shepard's cervical vertebrae. "And what would you have them say?" Zehra did not see an issue with playing along. There was no harm in socializing, so long as she got her work done with the Commander.

"I don't know... maybe they should change the regs to say that physical therapists need to wear mittens whilst working. That way it wouldn't be so painful." Zehra gave an exaggerated push of her thumb into a sensitive spot upon Shepard's neck, causing the Spectre to bunch the sheets in her fists with a white knuckled grip.

"Maybe the council should change the Spectre regulations so they aren't allowed to give such lip."

"Councillor Tevos would never agree to that. She loves it when I give her lip. I'm lead to believe it is what she looks forward to most in life." Zehra chuckled, giving Shepard a playful slap on the shoulder before moving to stand in between her legs. "Doctor, you could at least warn me before you decide to have your wicked way with me. What if someone comes in? You'd be the talk of the base. Taking advantage of a poor, injured, sexy Spectre like this." Zehra sighed, pushing Dexter's shoulders until her back was pressed firmly against the bed.

"Poor, injured, sexy Spectre?" The therapist made a faint sound of dismissal. "There is nothing poor about you."

"So you won't deny that I'm sexy?" Shepard snickered, believing that she had caught the other woman out.

"I won't deny that you are injured either." She gave Shepard's calf a squeeze, causing Dex to let out a hiss of pain. "You're tense, Shepard. Is something wrong?" It could have been a multitude of things either physical or mental, but Zehra wanted to know. She hadn't known Shepard for more than a few hours, but the woman was very easy to befriend.

"Nothing…"

Zehra stopped massaging Dexter's leg, her eyes meeting the other woman's. "Shepard," She stepped away from the Commander, hopping up onto the bed beside her. "If something is wrong, you can to tell me."

"Are you a psychiatrist, too?" Shepard snorted. She had been psychoanalysed enough in her life; she did not need it now, as well.

"No, but in my job, I have to listen. I have picked a few things up over time. Plus, talking about it usually helps." Zehra readjusted herself so she could sit cross-legged, smiling warmly as Shepard followed suit. "So come on," Zehra grabbed Dexter's hands and bounced on the bed, much like a teenager would whilst waiting to hear juicy gossip from a best friend.

_I suppose it wouldn't hurt to get some of this off my chest. _"I… it's hard to talk about." _Easier said than done, obviously…_ Dark brown eyes met a matching pair, silently pleading for a little push. Thankfully, Zehra caught on.

"Pick a category, friends, relationships or family?"

Shepard lowered her head. _A little of all of them, to be honest. I'm worried about my friends, who are actually more like my family. _Dexter couldn't help but sigh. Why could nothing be easy? _Because Liara isn't here, that's why. _Shepard smirked. _Ain't that the truth? _Looking back up at Zehra, Shepard resigned herself to speaking her mind.

"The second one."

"Relationships? Is this your little way of coming on to me?" Both of them laughed a little, breaking the tense atmosphere. "So what's the issue, Dex? You don't strike me as the indecisive type."

Shepard groaned, rubbing the palm of her hand over her face. "That's where you're wrong."

"Oh? Prey tell."

_Here you go, Shepard. Once you start, you aren't stopping. Not even if Liara walks through that door and sits in your lap. _Shepard's breath hitched at the image. _Alright, maybe then you can stop. _"Okay so, I met this… beautiful asari a few years ago-"

"Doctor T'soni?"

Shepard froze, her brow furrowing in bewilderment. "Wait… what?"

Zehra giggled, slapping Dex on the knee. "Come on, don't you ever read the gossip columns?" At Shepard's lost expression, Zehra pressed on. "You two were the toast of the asari gossip network The Pinnacle! They had entire sections about you two: "Will they, won't they", "Oh, look! Commander Shepard touched Doctor T'soni's arm, they must be bondmates now!", "Why weren't we invited to the bonding ceremony?" That kind of thing. You honestly never knew about it?"

Shepard looked at Zehra, her expression still one of confusion. "Wait… the asari have a gossip network called 'The Pinnacle'? That's a little presumptuous, even for the asar-"

"Shepard, you are missing the point!" Zehra interrupted, flailing her hands wildly.

Dex groaned, her hand going to her face again. "Okay, okay. Back to your earlier question: no, I don't think either of us knew about it." Shepard frowned. "Are they still writing this crap?" Zehra shook her head.

"Not so much. After your death, most of them dropped it. Maybe it was out of respect for Liara, or maybe they just lost interest. I presume it was the former, not the latter, though."

"God… what if Liara saw them? I would say that could have been the reason for her awkwardness, but nothing in this entire galaxy could take the blame for that." Shepard snickered at her personal joke. _Joker needs to hear that one. _Dexter's face fell slightly. _That's if he is even alive. He had better be._ Aside from Liara and Garrus, Joker was her best friend. She would need someone to talk to after this whole thing blew over. _If he isn't alive, I am totally going to pull a __**crazy Liara**__ on his ass and have him resurrected. _Shepard snickered again. She was keeping that joke for a later date, too.

"Anyway, you were telling me about Doctor T'soni." Zehra gently urged, prodding Shepard's kneecap for emphasis.

Shepard nodded, clearing her throat theatrically before carrying on. "Well, I thought she was a beautiful asari the moment I laid eyes on her-"

"And with good reason, too!" Zehra interrupted. "She's gorgeous, even by asari standards. And that is without mentioning her brilliant br…" Noticing the look on Dexter's face, she halted.

"Really? Going straight for the boobs?"

Zehra tut-tutted, wagging her finger in front of Shepard's face like and old school mistress. "I was actually about to compliment her _brilliant brain_." Noting the other woman's horrified expression with glee, Zehra pressed on. "I think someone _else_ has a bit of a thing for Liara's boobies." Zehra sing-songed as she pointed a finger in Shepard's direction, which the Spectre quickly slapped away.

"What? They are big and blue! What isn't to like?"

Zehra flapped her hands again. "Stop trying to change the subject, you!"

"Fine!" Shepard took a breath before continuing. "Ever since then I… I've had these feelings for her."

"Why haven't you acted on them?" Shepard was shocked. For a while there Zehra actually sounded serious. "You are both adults… at least I think Doctor T'soni is. You can never be too sure with those damned asari."

"Yes, she _is_ an adult!" Shepard quickly cut in, stopping Zehra before she could get started. "And I never acted on my feelings because… well… what if she doesn't like me?"

Zehra could not judge whether Liara felt the same way as Dexter did, having never met the asari, but Shepard was hard to dislike. How could she _not_ like her back? "And did you ever ask her?" Shepard looked at her glibly, shaking her head. "How do you know that she doesn't, then?"

Dex shrugged. "I guess I just assumed she never liked me like that. I mean, how could she? Liara is, you know… beautiful and everything and I'm just-"

"Charming, handsome, intelligent, funny! Shepard, despite your lack of self-confidence, you are a real catch. Open up your eyes and see it." Zehra paused, searching her pockets for something. "Right," She held out a credit chit. "It probably isn't worth much right now, but I will give you fifty credits when you tell Liara how you feel. Regardless of her reply. Think of it as a medal for your bravery."

Shepard contemplated everything. Irrespective of the credit chit, she felt determined to tell Liara how she felt. Zehra's advice just felt like a push in the right direction. Her confidence that they would find everybody alive and okay was refreshing, as well. "Alright…" Shepard took a gentle hold of Zehra's hand, pulling the therapists attention back to her. "And thank you, Zehra. You've helped me more than you know."

"Well, it's the least I could do for the saviour of the galaxy."

* * *

Chakwas slowed her pace when she reached the corridor leading to Liara's room. She did not want to rush in, shouting here there and everywhere. No. This was a delicate matter, meant to be handled in a careful manner. Besides that, it would not do anyone any good if she were to cause Liara any unnecessary upset.

She stopped briefly just outside Liara's door, taking a deep, calming breath before entering.

When she walked in, there was a green-skinned asari sat on the bed next to Liara, holding Liara's hand in what looked like a gesture of comfort. Both of them were talking in hushed voices, but neither seemed agitated. Chakwas went to step back outside, but the mystery asari quickly stopped her.

"Doctor, I was just leaving." The asari smiled before turning back to Liara, taking her hand once more. "Thank you for speaking with me Liara. I'll be sure to keep you updated on anything I hear." And with that she was gone. Chakwas watched the asari until she exited the corridor, worried about anyone overhearing what she was about to say. This was private news, after all. Doctor patient confidentiality and all that.

"Doctor Chakwas, may I help you?" Liara seemed in better spirits today, but there was still something there. Maybe it was just the pregnancy… Chakwas shook her head. Now was not the time for such guesswork.

Chakwas moved towards the end of the bed, placing her data-pad on the mobile table there. She stared at it for a while, her mind still reeling from the news. _How is this happening? Liara is but a Maiden! Much too young to be going through this kind of thing. Especially alone! _Chakwas sighed, her gloved fingers running through her icy white hair.

"Doctor?" Liara fiddled with the hem of her hospital gown, uncomfortable with the silence. _What is happening __**now**__? _Liara felt her nerves begin to fray. This was it. This time she was positive that Chakwas knew about her… _condition_. It was in the humans every movement. The sadness behind her eyes. Her distant demeanour. _She __**knows**__._

"We received the results back from your blood test."

The simple statement made Liara feel as though someone had just thrown a bucket of ice water in her face. She visibly trembled, her hand gripping the bed for support, crumpling the sheets in a blue knuckled grip. "Oh?" It was the only thing Liara could force herself to say. Her throat was tight, her chest tighter still. Chakwas looked up to her, pale green eyes practically penetrating her very soul. Liara's grip on the bed became tighter, needing every bit of support she could get before the inevitable truth spilled out.

"Yes." Liara had never heard Chakwas' voice sound so devoid of emotion, so… cold. "Liara, you're-" Before she could finish, Liara's body gave into the silent struggle. Her body crumpling to the floor in an emotionally taxed heap. Liara pulled her knees up towards her head, burying her face against her thighs. The action muffled her anguished cries, but they did not make them disappear. Chakwas was immediately at her side, pulling Liara's head against her shoulder.

Liara could not count the amount of times she had broken down like this during the past few weeks. All she knew was that no amount of crying eased the pain of missing Shepard. "There, there." Chakwas soothed her, thumb stroking her upper arm like a mother would do to an upset child. "Nothing has changed. Everything will be okay." Liara could not believe that, however. _Everything_ had changed now. Her life… even Shepard's, and the poor woman did not even know it yet.

_If she ever gets the chance to find out. _Liara mused sadly.

"I take it you knew about the baby, then?" Chakwas knew it was a ridiculous question, but she needed to be sure.

Liara lifted her head, lilac, bloodshot eyes meeting pale green. "Yes." Liara swallowed, sniffling quietly as she turned away from Chakwas' heavy gaze. "I understand that this must have come as a shock to you,"

_Shock doesn't cover the half of it, sweetheart… _Chakwas thought absently.

"But just know that I wanted this…" Liara placed a hand over her still flat abdomen. "I _want _this."

Chakwas nodded, a small smile appearing upon her lips. "I suppose somebody had to start the post-Reaper war baby boom."


	6. Chapter Six: Dreaming Out Loud

**Divided Plans:**

N.J Jordbrukaren.

Sorry for the lengthy gap between my past update and this one, folks. College has been dragging me down the past few weeks. Suffice to say; I am back again now. Thank you to everyone who have reviewed, favourited etcetera, etcetera. You fantastic people make my life, you really do. You all deserve space hamster shaped cookies and magic milk.

Oh, I haven't done this in a while. This here is Bioware's property. *Hands out binoculars* Over there we have a wild elcor, frolicking with its heard. And nesting in that tree over there we can see a greater spotted turian! Ahem… anyway, moving on.

OneRepublic – Dreaming Out Loud.

* * *

**Cha****p****ter Six: Dreaming Out Loud.**

_Shepard was sat at a circular table in the centre of a large, vibrant and rather crowded garden. She looked around the luscious courtyard confusedly. Everyone around her table seemed to be smiling and clapping. Shepard frowned a little. __**What are they clapping for? **__Shepard looked down, her frown growing deeper. __**And why the hell am I dressed like this? **__Shepard fingered the collar of her white dress shirt, her hand falling to tug at the black tie hanging from her neck._

_As if in answer to her earlier question, a tinging noise emanated from the front of the courtyard. Shepard subtly craned her neck up to see what was going on. _

_**Oh, no…**_

_Shepard slowly blinked and looked away before looking back. At the front of the garden, there was a long, oak table and sat behind it were a string of people, most of which she recognized. On one end, Matriarch Aethyta sat with Samara. Next to her were Tali, EDI, Miranda and Shiala. On the other end sat an unknown drell, but next to him were Garrus, Jacob, James and Kaidan. Everyone was dressed impeccably. Especially… Dexter swallowed hard. _

_At the centre of the table there was Liara, looking as bright and beautiful as ever. She was smiling. A wondrous smile that Shepard had never had the pleasure of seeing before. That thought hurt a lot. Who could make Liara smile more than she ever had? _

"_I have a few things I'd like to say." _

_**Feron. **__Shepard felt her teeth begin to grind of their own volition. Seeing the way Liara looked at the standing drell… that look of love, of adoration. Shepard felt her heart sink. Why was __**she**__ even here for this? More importantly: what was __**this**__?_

"_Firstly; I would like to thank everyone," Feron pointed his champagne flute in the direction of the crowd, skimming over them. "for being here today, on one of the most special days of our lives." He reached his other hand down, grasping Liara's. _

"_They are so perfect together. Don't you think?" Shepard jumped a little in her seat. She cautiously glanced to her right where a cheery looking Samantha was sat. _

"_Uh," Shepard cleared her throat as quietly as possible. "Yeah..." She croaked. Samantha's brown eyes softened, her hand pulling one of Dexter's own into her lap. _

"_Aww," Sam reached up, tracing the sharp line of Shepard's jaw with the tip of her index finger. "you are so cute when you're worried." Samantha leant over, resting her head against Dex's shoulder. "Feron will treat Liara well. They were made for each other, after all." _

_Those six words instantly threw a wave of nausea over Shepard like she had never experienced in her entire life. She desperately wanted to excuse herself, but that would have been rude. As much as she despised Feron, she did not think it polite to run out on him whilst he was midway through making his speech. Instead she gripped the tablecloth as tightly as possible, venting her rage into the poor piece of fabric. _

"_I hope that there will be more special days to come," Feron smiled down to Liara, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "With the asari I am proud to call my Bondmate." He lent down, his muddy orange lips softly connecting with Liara's indigo ones…_

* * *

Shepard jolted awake, her side hitting the guardrail awkwardly. Her breaths were coming fast and harsh. Despite how happy Liara had looked in that dream, she _never_ wanted to live through that again. She still felt nauseous. She could not stop thinking about Feron leaning down to kiss Liara… Shepard groaned. She was in enough pain without having that image branded into her brain.

Dex tried to lift her hand to itch her face, but quickly stopped, realising that the plaster cast on her arm was still too heavy for her to lift without making her exhausted afterwards.

This _sucked_. Despite the fact that every room was air conditioned, it was always just a little too hot. She was in Turkey, _Turkey! _And she wasn't even allowed outside. Shepard sighed, sinking back into the stack of pillows.

_I need to get out of here. _Before Dexter could put any real thought into her escape plan, the door swished open to reveal the chirpy elderly doctor that she had grown to detest. _He is the only person keeping you here, you know. Chop his head of now, and run for the hills. _Shepard smirked, which the doctor mistook for a friendly greeting.

"How are you feeling this morning, Commander?" He immediately went to check the various machines surrounding her bed, flicking the odd switch here and there.

Now she thought on it, her side was stinging a little more than usual. Maybe it was just a lack of medication. Shepard didn't know, but she assumed she could live with it. She tilted her head and shrugged.

"Okay then." He pulled up a data-pad, typing up his findings. "Everything looks to be settling quite nicely. I think we can give it another week or so before we can set you free."

_Set me free? What am I, some kind of bird? _

"Would you agree with my prognosis, Commander?" He looked up from his data-pad, dark eyes meeting Shepard's.

The Spectre gave another little shrug, wincing slightly at the pain it sent through her ribcage. "I feel fine, Doctor. Why can't I just leave now?"

He gave a quite chuckle. "I should have expected you to say that. Basically, we are just waiting to make sure if you are absolutely fine."

"But I am-"

"Never-the-less, we still need to wait and see. Everything looks good, but we wouldn't want you to get an infection or some such thing whilst you were gallivanting around the galaxy, would we?"

"But I won't-"

"Give it time." He placed a gentle hand against her shoulder. "Better to be safe than sorry, no?"

Dexter sighed. Deep down she knew he was right, but being cooped up in here was driving her crazy.

_I may just have to make that escape plan a reality…_

* * *

"Cardelia, I do not understand why you are _still_ so focused upon this. Liara helped us all when the galaxy was in turmoil. Is that not enough to absolve her?" Matriarch Tamiya rested her elbows against the glass table, her dark blue eyes pleading with Cardelia.

Matriarch Cardelia sighed as she reached for her flute of saakki, twirling the glass before taking a sip of the sparkling dark purple liquid. "No." Cardelia leant forward as she placed the flute back upon the table. "We have not yet received word from the other Matriarchs. We must continue as we originally planned."

Tamiya fell back into her chair. She hardly felt it fair for the asari government to still want Liara T'soni assassinated. The idea of it was moronic! They all knew of Liara's roll in preserving galactic stability alongside Commander Shepard and the rest of her team. Why destroy the life of someone who has just saved your own?

"This is ridiculous. Liara has done nothing to deserve this." Tamiya stood up from her seat. "I am going to prepare for my journey to Serrice-"

_That_ caught Cardelia's attention almost instantaneously. "Serrice? Why are you travelling to Serrice, Tamiya?" Cardelia knew exactly why she was heading there. This entire conversation had danced around the subject.

Tamiya ran her hands down the front of her dress, smoothing out the creases whilst simultaneously avoiding Cardelia's icy glare. "I plan to take my objections to the Matriarchs themselves. I shall not stand idly by and let Liara take the fall for something when she does not deserve it. It would be unjust." Tamiya climbed down the four small steps that led to the doorway. "Good day, Matriarch Cardelia."

"And to you too, Matriarch Tamiya."

Once she heard the door click to a close, Cardelia rose from her own seat, glass in hand, and paced over to the comm link in the corner of the room.

_*Yes, Matriarch Cardelia?* _Her assistants melodic voice floated quietly though the room.

Cardelia twisted the Saakki flute in between her slender digits, her icy blue eyes looking out of the large glass wall overlooking the lush, surprisingly unspoilt fields of the Armali countryside. "Connect me to Fiorin, would you?"

_*Yes, Matriarch.* _

The line immediately switched to another, a faint bleeping sound taking over as she waited for Fiorin to answer her call.

_*Matriarch Cardelia? To what do I owe the pleasure?*_

Cardelia rolled her eyes. Why did Fiorin have to act as if her Matriarchal status meant nothing to her? _You know how Matrons can be, sometimes. Cocky and self-centred. Fiorin is no different. _

"What do you know of Matriarch Tamiya?" Cardelia took another sip of her saakki as she listened to Fiorin speak.

_*Not much, I am afraid.* _There was a brief pause before the Matron continued. _*She __**hired**__ me once. She compensated me greatly. I have not heard a word from her since. May I enquire as to why you are asking me about her, Cardelia?*_

The Matriarch ground her teeth together. No one was supposed to address a Matriarch by their name whilst in their presence unless they had been given permission. It was simply Thessian etiquette. She brushed that aside for now. She had contacted Fiorin for a reason, and it was an important reason at that. "I need her eliminated. Can you do it?"

_*Yes.*_ If Cardelia did not know her well enough, it would be shocking how readily she agreed to it. _*Send me the information and I will get straight to it.*_

The Matriarch typed some things in to her terminal and attached a few documents together to create a data package before sending it to the assassin. "It is done. I expect an update by this time tomorrow."

_*Yes, Cardelia.* _And with that, the line went dead.

The Matriarch sauntered over to her seat, gracefully sliding back into it. Her elbows rested upon the tabletop, her fingers forming a temple that she tapped against her chin. If her scheme succeeded, and Tamiya did not make it to Serrice, her plan would once again be in motion. After that, she would send for one of her assassins to remove Liara from the picture. If the Matriarchs argued that it was an unjust move, then she would merely state that communications between them were poor, and that she was told to follow through with their original plan.

_Yes. _A smile appeared upon Cardelia's lips. _This, and everything else T'soni related, will belong to her in no time at all. The money, the estates, the respect, the privileges, those would all belong to Matriarch Cardelia T'soni and __**not **__Doctor__Liara T'soni . _

* * *

"Doctor Faulkner! I think he is waking up!" The small boy dithered around as the Doctor strolled over to the make shift bed.

His hands immediately went to the pulse in the other man's wrist. "Aye. I think you might be right, Alfie." A small smile crept over the handsome Doctor's face. "Could you grab a pack of medi-gel for me, please?" Without saying another word, Alfie ran to the back of the shed, searching the Doctor's kit for the medi-gel he requested.

"Here you go, Doctor Faulkner." He pressed the squishy metallic packet into the man's hand.

Faulkner threw a grin in Alfie's direction. _How many times do I have to ask him to call me by my first name?_

Alfie walked over to the nearby table, using all the strength he possessed within his small body to clamber up its rickety frame. "Is he going to be okay, Doctor Faulk-"

"Murdoch." The dark haired man gently corrected.

"Sorry, Murdoch." Alfie apologized as he brought his knees up to his chest.

Murdoch turned around after dealing with his mystery patient, his grey eyes instantly going to the distressed little boy sat upon the table. "Hey, wee man, what's wrong?" Murdoch knelt down in front of Alfie, his thumb tracing a soothing pattern upon the little boys shoulder.

"I miss my mommy…" Alfie sniffled as he surged forward, burying his face in the crook of Murdoch's neck.

"I know, Alfie. But she is up there somewhere, looking down on you. Thinking about what a brave boy you have been."

Murdoch saw Alfie's tears soak into the fluffy hood of his parka. "Do you think so?" His little voice was muffled, bringing an amused smile to the young Doctor's heavily stubbled face.

"No doubt, Alfie. No doubt..."

There was a moment's pause between them as Alfie pulled away from Murdoch's shoulder, big blue eyes meeting piercing grey ones. "I wish my daddy was like you."

Murdoch felt his heart swell and break all at the same time. He had never seen a more genuine facial expression than the one Alfie was wearing right now. Murdoch lifted his hand, his fingers tousling the little boy's scruffy black hair. "What was your daddy like, wee man?" Murdoch pulled out a battered stool before situating himself comfortably in front of Alfie.

"I never met daddy. Mommy told me he was a nice man, but he…" Alfie tugged one of his baggy jumper sleeves over his fist before wiping the gathering moisture beneath his eyes and nose. "He died before I was born." Murdoch pulled the little boy to his chest when he began sobbing.

_Damn it, I was trying to cheer him up, not make him cry more! _

"B-but… I hope _he_ was like _you_."

The resoluteness in Alfie's voice brought a bright smile to Murdoch's face. Alfie was a strong, clever little boy. Smarter that the average four year old, anyway. "I'm your family now, Alfie." Murdoch locked eyes with the young boy once more. "I will take care of you, no matter what."

Alfie nodded as he reached out to pat the unruly fur on the hood of the Doctor's white coat. "Thank you." Alfie's sensitive ears picked up a faint grumble from behind Murdoch, his eyes flicking towards the source. "I think he is waking up again." A short finger pointed towards the make shift bed behind them more specifically, to the injured man who lay upon it.

"Right again, wee man. I'm starting to believe that you'll make a better Doctor than me one day." Murdoch chuckled as he went back to the man's side. He checked his pulse again and it was all good. He checked the man's bandages and they were all good, too. His face was not contorted in pain…

"Where-" The injured man trailed off into a coughing fit, startling Murdoch somewhat. The Doctor quickly grabbed a bottle of water from his pack, carefully tipping some of its contents into the prone man's mouth.

"Okay?"

The man gave a small nod. "Where am I?" His dark brown eyes rolled around, examining the shabby wooden shed that housed them.

"We are in Ochil Hills-" Before Murdoch could elaborate, the injured man interrupted.

"Ochil Hills?" The man lifted his head slightly, his eyes wide and confused.

"In Scotland." Murdoch clarified.

A groan escaped the man's lips, his weary head dropping back down against the thin pillows.

"Can I ask who you are? If you remember anything?" Brown eyes looked over to him again, as if seeing something… somebody, would help him recall the things Murdoch asked of him. It must have done the trick because the corner of his lips twitched upwards in what looked to be relief.

"Yes."

Murdoch's dark eyebrows furrowed sharply. Was this man being terse on purpose? "Which?"

"Both." The man coughed again, this time reaching for the water bottle himself. Once he was sated, he passed the bottle back to Murdoch. "I remember everything. My name is Anderson. Admiral David Anderson."

* * *

Samantha stared at the room in awe. When she left the infirmary to go to the comm hub, she never expected to see it this packed.

_I guess everyone is doing what they can to get communications back online. _The Specialist mused as she ventured further into the dimly lit room. Lights flickered along the walls and upon the hundreds of interfaces surrounding her. _Are these all messages and distress calls? _Not every line of communication was down then, just the main comm links that the Reapers had decimated. Not that Samantha approved of what the Reapers had done, not at _all_, but destroying the comms was a sound tactical manoeuvre. By doing so, they had practically decapitated earth, leaving everyone to fend for themselves and unable to call for any assistance what so ever.

It was shocking that this place had survived. London had bore the brunt of the attack on Earth. One would have thought a communications hub would have been one of the first places to be invaded when the Reaper ground forces originally attacked.

"Pardon me, Ma'am." Samantha looked up to the woman stood before her. "I haven't seen you down here before." Sam gave a meek shake of her head, silently agreeing with her. "I should probably introduce myself then." An armoured hand extended out towards her. "Lieutenant Peyton O'Neill. A pleasure to meet you."

Sam looked up to the woman, her hand jerkily moving to grasp the soldiers own. "Tray- uh, Samantha… Comm Specialist Samantha Traynor. Nice to meet you." The soldiers' dark green eyes sparkled with amusement. She had never dealt with a twitchy English woman before… not in this respect, anyway.

"Is there something you needed?" The melodic sound of Peyton's Irish accented voice soothed Samantha's nerves. For a moment there, Sam believed that she was going to get thrown out on her arse. "Ah…" Peyton's armoured digits threaded through her black hair before she scratched the back of her neck. "I apologize. That was an inane question. You're here for the comm systems, right?"

Samantha chuckled at the soldiers' awkwardness. It was endearing. It kind of reminded her of Shepa… Samantha cut herself off there. She whole-heartedly believed that Shepard was alive, but it still hurt to be separated from her for so long. That was the real reason for her being down here. She needed to help fix communications. The quicker they were back online, the quicker she could begin her search for the woman she loved.

"Yes, you are correct."

Peyton nodded before beckoning Sam to follow her. "You sound like one of the smarter ones." Traynor blushed at the soldiers' pleasant assumption. It had been _so_ long since someone praised her.

_The last time it had been Shepard, and it certainly was not for how well she had 'fixed' something. Although, you could think of it like that if you wanted to… _Sam's blush grew deeper. Now was not the time to be thinking about rolling in the hay with her Commander. _It __**is**__ a tempting thought, though. _With her head in the clouds, Traynor completely missed Peyton stopping to access the nearby door. Traynor strolled head first into the soldiers armoured back, cutting her eyebrow in the process.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Peyton spun around, her hands dithering around Sam's head.

Sam involuntarily released a pained hiss, her fingers reaching up to cradle her face.

"Don't touch it…" Peyton reached out, popping a medi-kit off the wall. "It's not deep. Nothing a drop of medi-gel and a plaster can't fix." As the woman got to work on the small gash, Samantha's eyes went over her. Peyton was tall, not overly tall, but tall enough that Sam would have to crane her neck to look at the other woman's face. She was obviously a weathered soldier. Her black armour was covered in scrapes and scratches. Her dark green eyes were focused unnecessarily hard as she examined Sam's minor wound. It was quite amusing. Again, it reminded her of Shepard…

_Stop it! _Samantha admonished herself. It was impossible for her not to see Dexter everywhere she went. Everything brought up thoughts of the Spectre. It was all Traynor could do to keep herself together instead of breaking down in the middle of the corridor.

"There we go." Peyton took a step back from Traynor, her eyes scanning over her handiwork. "I'm no medic, but I believe I did a brilliant job."

Samantha let out a half-hearted laugh, giving up midway through it.

"Anyway," Peyton noticed the awkwardness in the atmosphere. She was trying to say something to cheer the, obviously, miserable woman up, but all her attempts had failed thus far. Peyton was considering cracking out her good ol' Irish charm, but she did not want to come off too strong. A smile grin appeared upon Peyton's face as she turned her back to Traynor, her fingers going back to the control panel that she had abandoned earlier. This Traynor woman _was_ incredibly pretty, though.

_Pretty and adorable. Is there a better mixture? _Peyton subtly shook her head. _No. There isn't a better mixture. It's flawless. _Dark green eyes flicked over to the side, catching a glimpse of the Specialist as she rolled her shoulders, arching her breasts forward. _Forget pretty, she is __**gorgeous**__._

The door clicked and hissed, notifying them of its unlocked state. "Here you are." Peyton motioned towards the free, yet broken, comm hub ahead of them. "Need any help?"

Sam looked at the helpful soldier, her lips lifting into a smile that never quite reached her eyes. "If you think you can handle it."

A mock-offended gasp escaped the taller woman as they both entered the dim, dark blue room. "Oh, I am up to anything you can throw at me." _Absolutely anything. _Peyton grinned as she searched for one of the panels that controlled the comm link.

* * *

Shiala paced through the canteen on a mission. Not a mission of mass import, but a personal one. Shiala was not socially awkward like Liara, but spending so much time around all of the varying species inside such a small space was beginning to ware her out.

_Especially the krogan! Whichever deity came up with their digestive system should be murdered. _Shiala shuddered as she recalled last night's victory celebrations in the krogan sector of the camp just outside the infirmary. Their belches could be heard for miles, and she was almost certain that they had all come from the young fellow… _What was his name? _Shiala's face contorted in annoyance. The name was right there, on the tip of her tongue.

_Gnarl… Growl… Groan… __**Grunt! **_The asari smiled and clicked her fingers in victory. Goddess, she had been trying to think of his name all day.

Shiala looked up only to notice that she was standing outside Liara's room, without pause, she entered. There was no need for excessive privacy amongst she and Liara. Not only did asari not think such things taboo, unlike the humans, turians and salarians, but she and Liara were more like sisters. Even with the large space of time they had been separated from one another.

"Little Wing?" Shiala cautiously eyed Liara, who was sat in a recliner beside the window. The younger asari instantly looked over to her at the call of her nickname, her eyes sparkling somewhat.

"Shiala? How are you?" Liara went to stand, but the Matron motioned her back down.

"Not much different from when you asked me that yesterday." Both asari chuckled. It was good to find a spark of joy amidst all this destruction. "I came here to check up on _you_, actually." Shiala crouched down beside Liara's chair, pulling the other asari into a hug. "How is your leg?"

Liara smiled at the Matron before gazing back out of the large window. The weather was vastly different from what it had been like during the assault. All clear blue skies and vibrant green trees that gently swayed in the eddy. Apparently this was a rare occurrence for England. Liara did not understand what the human nurse had meant when she had said that, but it did not matter. It was still beautiful.

"My leg has fully recovered, or so I was told yesterday afternoon." The corner of Liara's mouth twitched upwards when she saw Shiala's confused expression out of the corner of her eye.

"But…" Shiala paused as she got into a more comfortable position. "If that is the case, why are they holding you here?" There was no malice in the Matrons voice. There never would be, as far as Liara was concerned. It was curiosity… worried curiosity.

Liara felt the blush burning up the back of her neck and upon her chest. Was she ready to tell someone? Someone who wasn't in the medical profession? Liara cast a glance to her left, royal blue eyes meeting concerned emerald ones. "Shiala," Liara decided to take the plunge. Despite everything, she wanted to share the news with _someone_. Who better to share it with then her spiritual sister? "There is something very important I must tell you."

"Okay." Shiala nodded her consent, her hand moving to grasp Liara's.

"I have spoken with you before… about my feelings regarding Commander Shepard…" Liara trailed off when a knowing grin appeared upon the green-skinned asari's face. After their 'reunion' on Feros, Liara and Shiala had kept in touch with one another via messages and the occasional vid call. During one of those vid calls, Shiala pressed Liara about the attractive human Spectre she had been travelling with. After a few minutes, Shiala had managed to box Liara in, finally squeezing the details about their relationship out of her. Unfortunately, the information had not been as juicy as Shiala would have liked. Liara simply told her about the unrequited attraction between them. Shiala trusted Liara to do what she thought best and left the issue in the Maidens hands. She still hoped that something would flare between them. They would have been absolutely precious together, but, apparently, it was not to be. After the collector Attack on the Normandy, Shepard had passed on, leaving Liara all alone, unrequited feelings and all.

"Yes, you have spoken with me about it." The knowing grin on Shiala's face grew wider when she noticed just how flustered Liara was getting. "Anyway, you were saying?"

"I was always afraid of telling Shepard how I felt about her. First it was," Liara paused, searching for the term Ashley had used in the past. "A _crush_, but then it became something more. When I thought Shepard had died after the debris had crashed into the Citadel tower, my heart broke and then she reappeared, _that_ stupid grin all over her face..." Liara trailed off dreamily.

Shiala coughed, interrupting Liara's thoughts.

"I apologize. I went off on a tangent-"

"A tangent in the shape of a certain enthralling Spectre?" Shiala giggled as Liara swatted her away, a purple blush creeping up her cheeks.

"As I was saying!" Liara said firmly, hoping to immediately change the topic. "I have always cared for Shepard; perhaps more than one should-"

"Perhaps?" Shiala interrupted once more.

"I am trying to tell you something _important_!" Despite the raised volume of her voice, Shiala could see the smile upon her friends face.

"I have lost her and _almost_ lost her too many times to count… I was not prepared to lose her again, so I…" Liara looked over to Shiala, her big eyes brimming with unshed tears. "So I took a part of her with me. It was wrong of me to do it without her consent, but I _needed_ this. I have never wanted something so badly in my entire life."

Shiala's expression fell. Was Liara saying what she thought she was saying? The Matron swallowed thickly. "Liara?"

"I am pregnant, Shiala. With Shepard's baby."

Shiala's mouth fell agape as she looked to Liara, then to the floor and back again. "But, you… and Shepard… Little Wing?" Liara could not help but chuckle at the utter confusion in her friends face and voice.

"I know that this must be hard to take in, Shiala." The green asari nodded her head in silent agreement before getting to her feet. Liara was worried by the far off look in her friends' eyes. "Shiala?"

Shiala shook her head, clearing her thoughts. "Sorry, Liara. I meant to say congratulations!" She walked back over to Liara, pulling her into a tight embrace. Out of the pair of them, Shiala always believed she would be the first to settle down. Not only was she older and in her Matron stage, but Liara was always off on some adventure or another. It didn't take an asari eye to see that Liara was not ready for Bonding and children. Times had changed, though… and _things_ had obviously changed, as well. Shiala could not have been happier for her and Shepard… A sudden realisation caused Shiala to frown a little. She pulled back from the hug, her eyes instantly locking onto Liara's own.

"Wait… you said you did this without her permission. So Shepard was not aware of this before she… before…" Shiala trailed off as she realised what she was about to say. Of course, she hoped Shepard was alive. Even more so now, but it was doubtful. According to the people she _could_ get information from; Shepard had been on the Citadel when parts of it had begun disintegrating. Shiala doubted that Shepard could have survived a fall like that.

Liara sighed, drawing the green skinned asari's attention to her. "No." Liara looked over to Shiala, her eyes brimming with tears. "If Shepard," Liara always struggled with this. She had the first time round, too. One would think that you would get used to death, but it was not so. Not when Shepard was involved, anyway. "If Shepard did… perish, then she would not have known."

"Oh, Little Wing." Shiala pulled Liara back into the hug, comforting the younger asari as she wept against her shoulder. "It will all be okay. Trust in me. We will get through this together," Shiala pulled back ever so slightly to look Liara in the eyes. "All three of us."

Liara smiled as Shiala pressed a kiss to her temple. "All three of us." _All __**four**__ of us. I will find you, Shepard. No matter what._

* * *

Tamiya looked at the digital clock, sighing as the numbers switched for the fifth time in what felt like an age. She needed to get to Serrice as quickly as possible. This was literally a case of life and death. She looked up to the clock again, her heel tapping impatiently against the polished, black quartzite floor.

_Goddess, in a time as advanced as this, it should not take half an hour for a shuttle to arrive. I could have hired a Krogan to carry me there faster than this!_

This clocks numbers shifted again, earning another displeased sigh from Tamiya. Instead of simply standing in the centre of the terminal, the Matriarch decided to use the restroom whilst she had the opportunity. The sound of her heels tapping against the floor echoed throughout the near-empty terminal. Tamiya was not surprised that the place was as desolate at it was. Most people did not need to travel at this time, what with all the chaos that had only just passed.

The Matriarch felt an odd sense of relief as she entered the washroom. She felt uneasy before. She wasn't sure why, but she did. Brushing it off, Tamiya walked over to the basin, soaking a cloth and dabbling it against her forehead. Feeling the chilled fabric against her skin always helped to ease her tension-

"Planning on travelling somewhere, Matriarch?"

Tamiya's eyes shot open, instantly spotting the owner of the eerily familiar voice in the mirrors reflection. "Fiorin?" Tamiya spun around on her heel, her hands slamming down against the wooden counter surrounding the basin.

"I am glad you still remember me. I'm disappointed you haven't contacted me since our little… get together." Fiorin started pacing the floor in front of the Matriarch. "I thought we had something, Tamiya." The cobalt skinned asari stepped forward, her finger running up Tamiya's throat and pausing underneath her chin.

"You worked for me once. It was a working partnership, nothing more." Tamiya's gasped as Fiorin's hand slipped forward, gripping her by the throat. "Why are you here?" The Matriarch chocked out.

Fiorin completely disregarded Tamiya's last question. "That isn't what you told me at the time, _darling_." She leant forward, the tip of her nose brushing against the Matriarchs. "Remember that? You cared about me once and then you ran away! Why?" Fiorin grit her jaw tightly in an attempt to stem the flow of words that were waiting to escape her.

"I am Matriarch Tamiya Servetye. I do not answer you, Fiorin!"

With the use of biotics, Fiorin's grip tightened around Tamiya's neck. "Matriarch Cardelia sends her regards…" Fiorin muttered as she pulled her pistol out of its holster, pressing the silencer against Tamiya's forehead before pulling the trigger. A quite pop filled the restroom, followed by a thud as Tamiya's body slumped to the floor.

Too wound up was she; that Fiorin decided to leave the body of her once lover as it was. Fiorin snapped her leather glove before walking away from the crime scene. She had had enough of this to last her a life time. _Maybe I'll use the money I get from this job to retire. Yes…that sounds perfect, right about now. _


End file.
